a year of chasingrayce <3

It has been a year since I started this blog, which also means a year since this day. I miss my Grandma Doris every.single.day. She was a crazy fun lady and the absolute best grandma that I could’ve asked for. She loved her grandkids more than life itself, and not too much made her happier than watching us all grow up. She was the Pateros Billygoats biggest fan and wore her purple proudly! Grandma Doris made the BEST apple pie and I think about her every time I make scrambled eggs (why? I guess her amazing scrambled eggs are ingrained in my memory!) Her and my grandpa Don’s “ranch” up the Methow was a kid’s mecca for entertainment. I have so many fond memories of floating the river, playing in the pool, making forts and riding horses and playing dress up with the HUGE collection of dress up clothes she had collected throughout the years. I’ll never forget being at the ranch with her one day cleaning and watching Days of our Lives, just the 2 of us, and a salesperson pulled in the driveway – she immediately stopped the vacuum and told me to run upstairs with her asap and to be QUIET. The guy came to the door – knocked, and even had the cojones to open the door and yell “is anybody home?!” - the fact that the t.v. was still on probably didn’t help our disguise attempt – he finally left and all was good. That seems like it was just yesterday . . .

She loved Rayce before he was even born. I lived in Alaska the last few years of her life, and the day I told her I was pregnant, was the day she started in EXTRA hard on her campaign to get me to move back to Washington. I’d be lying if I said she wasn’t a lot of the reason we moved back, especially after we found out about her brain tumor. She was beyond excited at the idea of being a great-grandma, and I couldn’t deny her that time with Rayce any longer than I already had. Watching her with Rayce throughout her last months of life was a huge gift – she adored our little boy and told EVERY person that came in her path that she was a GREAT-grandma.

My family decided to celebrate grandma’s life yesterday with a trip up to Pateros. As we pulled up to the cemetery, Rayce was laughing his contagious laugh and dad made the comment “Oh Rayce, Grandma Doris would love hearing you laugh!” So, so true We didn’t expect that it would be snowing, so our trip was a little quick, but it was great to see her head stone right next to Grandpa Dons, and it was a great way to celebrate her life.

We stopped in Chelan on the way home to eat at one of Grandma’s favorite places – the Apple Cup Cafe – we met her there a lot throughout the years since it is about halfway between Pateros and Cashmere. Usually we were trading off kids or just meeting for a quick meal all together.

All in all, it was a great afternoon and a great way for our family to remember such an important person in our lives. I miss her so much, but I am so thankful for the time that I did get to spend with her <3