The following is a little thing I wrote about my Grandparents in honor of their 70th Wedding Anniversary. My aunt asked everyone in the family to record memories about Grandma and Grandpa--here are a few of my memories! The pictures of my grandparents were taken by my sister's friend in the Summer of 2011. She also took pictures of their home, Grandpa's shop and other items from their home which I wanted to include.
GRANDMA AND GRANDPA PETERSON
Herb and Wanda Peterson
70th Wedding Anniversary
Saturday, June, 23, 2012
I have many, many memories of Grandma and Grandpa Peterson.
It was always a treat to go visit Grandpa and Grandma Peterson as a child since we lived
further away. I remember going to stay overnight at Grandma and Grandpa’s house
whenever we came to visit from Preston, Sandy or Tooele. . We would make beds for
ourselves on the green reclining chairs (of course, with eight of us kids, we would fight
over who got to sleep in the chairs). We would stay up late in our beds watching the
news and MASH with Grandpa. In the morning, Grandma and Grandpa always had boxes of
Honey Combs cereal for us to eat!
name engraved on it. Inside was a baptismal certificate and a pedigree chart. Grandma
has always had several large Book of Remembrances on her shelf that I loved to look
through with pictures and stories of our ancestors. I loved reading the stories of our
ancestors that she had collected and typed. She had so many old pictures of our
ancestors too that made our ancestors come more alive to me. I also love looking at
Grandma’s scrapbooks she has kept over the years which she has labeled in her beautiful,
perfect cursive handwriting!
When I was about 10 years old, Grandma invited me to come and stay at their house for a
week during the summer. My family and I came up on a Sunday evening, for the
traditional cheese sandwiches and hot chocolate, and then my family left around 10:00 or
10:30 (we always stayed late). Grandma and I had made big plans of going shopping
together and she was going to take me to the Classic Water Slides during the week. As
soon as my family left, I got changed into my pajamas and crawled in bed in the spare
room. I started to feel really scared and I wanted to go home (my family was probably
only 10 miles up the road). Grandma comforted me and she promised she would drive me
home in the morning. The next morning, we climbed into the car and she drove me home
to Sandy. She kept telling me we should have invited Aleece to stay too so I wouldn’t be
so lonely.
afternoons after I graduated from Utah State. I was living at my other Grandparents
home in Roy and Grandma Peterson invited me down to eat Sunday dinner with them
each week. We had wonderful conversations about life and the gospel. Grandma and
Grandpa would tell stories from their childhoods and Grandpa would give me lots of
advice and Grandma would say, “Oh, Herb!!” It was so cute!. I loved being with Grandma
in the kitchen preparing dinner and cleaning up! Grandma would share her recipes with me
and she has always been a wonderful cook! I went down to Grandma’s house, on several
occasions, before I was married, and she taught me how to make pie crust and homemade
bread.
Grandma has always kept her Book of Mormon on the little table by her chair in the family
room. For years, the Hooper Stake gave out a little chart that said “I have read the
Book of Mormon in ___ (year)” with a little square to color in each day of the year when
you read. Many, many times, when I go visit Grandma, I peek inside her scriptures to her
little chart and I notice almost every little box is colored in. I don’t know if Grandma
ever saw me sneak a peek in her book but Grandma, in her own quiet way, has taught me
the importance of the Book of Mormon and reading it on a daily basis. I thank you for
this legacy!!
always tinkering with something. Over the years, Grandpa’s interests have changed. I loved
watching Grandpa make clocks. He loved making jewelry and collecting gems, stones and
rocks. Whenever I would go and visit, Grandpa always had to show me the latest thing he
had made. I love listening to Grandpa talk about his wares!
visit, he would take me out to the garden and point out the different plants. Grandpa
has always taken such good care of his garden. Last year, Scott planted our first
vegetable garden. Before we planted our garden, Scott was talking to Grandpa about
plants and seeds and what varieties of fruits and vegetables Grandpa planted and why.
Grandpa sent us home one Sunday night with one of his “Gurney” catalogs and we ended
purchased many seeds and plants from it. It is always fun listening to Scott and
Grandpa talk about their gardens.
Mallory, Hayley and Brittney lovingly refer to Grandma and Grandpa as “Hot Chocolate
Grandma and Grandpa”! They love to visit Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday’s and carry on
the same traditions I loved as a child– going to Grandma and Grandpa’s for cheese
sandwiches, hot chocolate, Kool-Aid and Twizzlers or Red Vine licorice!
We love you Grandma and Grandpa!
Love,
Erin, Scott, Mallory, Hayley and Brittney
