Finding JOY in the JOURNEY...: Grandpa Bradshaw

February 13, 2011

Grandpa Bradshaw

Back row: Norman, Clark.
Front row: Vernille ,LaVel (Grandpa Bradshaw), Ray and Collis. (This is not all of them...there were 15 children and Grandpa Braddshaw was the oldest)

My aunt Janet posted this picture on her blog that she got at my Great Uncle Clark's funeral this past weekend. Uncle Clark was my Dad's Fathers youngest Brother and was only 73. My Dad is turning73 this year. My grandpa (Lavel) died when he was only 70. I love this picture!!! I haven't seen a picture of my Grandpa for a long time and I was just 11 years old when he passed away but I remember him very well. I loved him and boy did he love me :P (I was told I was his FAVORITE heehee). He was a dairy farmer by trade and was a Patriarch in the church when he passed away. I regret not being able to get my Patriarchal blessing from him before he passed away. My older siblings did. I have the best memories of going to Manderfield, Utah for the summers and playing on the farm with my cousins...and having family reunions up at Indian Creek (where this picture was taken) and drinking homemade rootbeer. I used to tell Lee that one of my dreams was to move back to Beaver/Manderfield and have a farm with lots of animals and raise my kids surrounded by thousands of cousins/family (Cause the B on the mountian in Beaver stands for BRADSHAW!!!). I miss both of my grandparents...Grandma Bradshaw just passed away a few years ago and lived a long time without her eternal companion...I think like almost 20 years!!! I lived with her for a few months when I was in the 8th grade and I wish I could go back in time and relish the moments I had with her. I gave her a hard time...being a teenager that thought I knew everything! She'd always say, "Im just waiting for your Grandpa to come and get me!" I never understood what she meant until I found the love of my life and I can't imagine having to live that long wihtout my Hubby! Im in a very nostalgic mood so forgive my rambling! Just something interesting that I wanted to save in my blog for my kids to read one day!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Once upon a time...

Mibi grew up in Laie and attended Kahuku High and Lee grew up in Haleiwa and Mililani and attended Mililani High. Mibi went to College at BYU-Hawaii and then served a mission in the Utah Ogden Mission before meeting the man of her dreams. After school, Lee jumped into the workforce looking for his career and eventually ended up working for Mibi's family flower shop at Turtle Bay while Mibi was serving her mission...and never thought that this job would lead him to his "Angel". We met in Septmeber of 2001 after I returned home from my mission. I came back to the flower shop to manage things for my Mom and Lee had left to pursue his education. Well a few months later, Lee's education path didn't take the direction he had hoped and instead life lead him back to Turtle Bay. The first thing he did was call Mom to get his job back and of course she said YES. So, I was Lee's boss and there was an instant friendship...it felt as if we had known each other our entire lives. We kept it strictly business for a few weeks and then one night I was gong to make a Wal-Mart run after work and called him to see if he wanted to come along. His phone was busy (the days before call waiting) and I almost gave up...but after a few more tries he picked up and from that night on we were inseperable. I think we told each other our life stories that night and we both knew then that our lives would never be the same! Over the next year, we formed a deep love and respect for each other which kept us connected through a few rough patches and across the ocean as Mibi moved back to Utah. Finally after a year of being best friends, we both realized that there is no one on earth we would rather be with than each other! We were a couple for about two years when Lee proposed to me and we tied the knot at the exact place we first met...the same hotel the flower shop was located when we worked there...TURTLE BAY. And to add to our JOY, we have a beautiful daughter Savannah (Lee's biological and Mibi's spiritual daughter ) who we just ADORE! She is so smart, funny, outgoing, a jabberbox like her Dad and just the cutest thing you have ever seen!!! We also are praying that we can give her a little brother or sister sometime in the next year or two!!! Until then we have a Doberman (Kayla) and a cat (Shadow) that we spoil rotten and of course all of our Nieces and Nephew's. It has been almost 8 years of wedded bliss and although we have had our ups and downs, each experience has made us grow more in love with each other and are still each others best friend!