Grandpa Tell Me About The Good Old Days

Emma’s-Sleighride by Robert Duncan

While driving around our new community, we were unaware that  we had moved into the boundaries of the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area.  There are so many points of interest,  stories to learn about and  events to attend.  I was drawn to the song released many years ago by the Judd’s, “Grandpa, Tell Us About the Good Old Days”  kept playing in my mind.  I began to recall the many stories that I had heard as a child from my grandparents and so wanted our grandchildren to hear everything that I could remember.  My husband never knew any of his grandparents, so he missed out on so many wonderful opportunities to have precious memories he could have had.  He was determined that our grandchildren would know how much they were loved, just how special that they are, and that there was so much fun in learning about the past while  visiting with their grandparents.  They would learn not only about our lives, but those of many special men and women in our family as well as those that are known and unknown.

Best Of Friends, one of many original works by Robert Duncan

 

While searching for music to have to share with our grandchildren,  I ran across a beautiful slide presentation  featuring the paintings of a very talented artist, Robert Duncan using the Judd’s song, Grandpa Tell Me About The Good Old Days .  It is with great memories I wish to share this wonderful song and artwork that depicts a time of not so long ago.

We began our time with our grandchildren telling them stories of the past.  They loved hearing of persons they wish they knew.  Before they went home, another visit was planned for them to come back to the “Good Old Days”,   as they put it.  This has become the theme of each visit.  Now we hear from them regularly wanting for “Poppa to tell them more about the “Good Old Days”!

 

 

Future Archaeologists Find Rare Dinosaur Skeletons In Their Garden

One day our home schooled granddaughters were interested in dinosaurs after seeing a Magic School Bus “In Time Of The Dinosaurs” episode.  They decided paleontology was their career choice.  Our youngest was sitting out under a tree in the back yard, pondering the task, when we arrived for a visit.  The older granddaughter was researching on the computer.

Poppa took up the idea and went to explore the dig site.  The “proper tools”   had been assembled and away to work they went.  When suddenly a worm was discovered. 

The back story to this adventure was that a large dead shrub in the front yard had been removed due to roofing tar buried underneath the roots.   The little girls heard this and they were sure that this was where the dinosaur skeletons would be.  We left their home to go to a store that specialized  in educational supplies.  Onward  in search of dinosaur remains.  We hit the jackpot!  There we found a large bag full of different species made of plastic.  After the children went to bed Poppa and I went to the house and planted our find in the front garden.

Searching for Dinosaurs in the front garden.

The next morning, with great excitement the girls called and invited us over for their dig. They had discovered an entire new species of dinosaurs, their skeletons were completely preserved.  These were a pygmy species.  Some were no bigger that your thumb. They spent the day digging, discovering various family pods of dinosaurs.

This story was remembered during a recent visit.   We were so thrilled that they have memories of days since passed.  This was a Grandparent payday!  We plan on many more memories that they will want to share with their children and grandchildren!

They learned that the Fairview Museum had a full scale replica of a nearly fully intact Columbian Mammoth.  The Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area, and the Utah Heritage Highway 89 has an abundance of attractions that we will be sharing with our grandchildren.  The mammoth was unearthed on the nearby Wasatch Plateau in 1988 while excavating the Huntington Reservoir.  More is yet to come on the treasures within the Fairview Museum and their next visit.

Fairview Museum in Farirview, Sanpete County, Utah

 

 

 

 

Making a Puppet Theater That Will Delight Children!

Puppet Theater created from an old cabinet. Total cost $15.00

Our little granddaughters loved to play with puppets, so for a special Christmas gift we decided to make them one.  We were very busy just like everyone else and we didn’t have the woodworking tools. To make this as easy, less time consuming, and inexpensive as possible, we took stock of what we did have. We had an old double door cabinet, white latex paint, sticky foam letters in various colors, and fabric. We decided to turn the cabinet around making the front double doors the back and the back the front of the theater. This became the storage place for the puppets and the puppeteer as well. What we needed was an easy way to move this heavy cabinet, raise it to the proper height, and a way to hang the theater curtain.  To solve this problem my husband bought a 4’x4″ wooden post and cut the lengths we needed. Next we decided to attach handles at the four corners, on the side of the cabinet. The legs were attached with deep wood screws to the bottom  of the cabinet.  The posts came next, he measured the height that he wanted for the stage and for the curtains to be hung.  The posts were cut to the proper height and then before attaching the posts, he drilled holes into the posts to slide the towels through for the curtain rod. Once this was done, he secured the posts to the top of the cabinet by screwing them into the underside of the top and into the posts.  The post was secured to the back corners of the cabinet, then covered with caps to protect the children from any injury. The construction was complete, the next step was to sand and paint the posts and cabinet. As he was painting, I selected fabric to make the curtains.  I made a header so the curtains would have a ruffle at the top.  The main curtain was tied back, and the second set of curtains was to be kept closed to hide the puppeteer. Once the paint was dry and the curtains were pressed, we slid the towels through the curtain pocket and placed the towel rod into the holes previously drilled  into the posts. For the final touch, we selected letters to spell out the girls names to stick on the front of the theater. On Christmas, they were delighted to have a personalized puppet theater of their very own! We were treated to many puppet shows over the years.  They spent hours in their theater that we made for under $15.00.   As the girls grew too old for the puppet theater it found a great new home at a center for abused children.