Throwback Thursday

I've been thinking about having an occasional throwback Thursday (where I tell a story from my past) for a while now.  We'll see how it goes.  Most of the time they will be funny stories, but today's is a little more serious.  If you think of a story that I just have to share, let me know (no, I'm not planning on telling the deer story). 

For my first ever throwback Thursday, I decided to tell you a story about my great grandma.  Some of you were wondering how she was after she fell and broke her hip last weekend.  Well, I spent most of today helping my grandma and great aunt move my great grandma into a nursing home for rehabilitation since she can't return to the assisted living home in her current state.  Thankfully, she handled it much better than I thought she would.  Before I left she told me, "I'm a tough old bird to kill."  I'm glad she still has her sense of humor.  OK, enough downer talk.  Here's my Grandma Johnnie throwback Thursday.

My Grandma Johnnie has gone on A LOT of trips.  Most of these trips were part of Kincaid bus tours.  That's right, she rode a bus all over the U.S. multiple times (she went to every state at least once).  Every time she went on a trip, she bought a magnet.  This resulted in her having a fridge full of magnets.  As in, every spare inch (including the front, one side and half of the other side) had a magnet on it.  There were so many magnets that when we cleaned out her house a few years ago, they were collaged together, put in shadow boxes, and distributed among family members. 

When my sister and I were little, Grandma Johnnie invited us to go on a "Big Folks, Small Folks" bus trip.  We had always wanted to go on a trip with Grandma and this one seemed perfect since it was designed as a bonding opportunity for people and their grandkids.  I was so young that I don't remember all of the details, but I remember that we toured a stuffed animal plant (where Grandma bought each of us a stuffed animal, mine was a sheep), a space museum (when we arrived at the hotel, we found freeze dried ice cream on our pillows :), and an exotic animal park.  Over all, it was a great trip that I remember fondly to this day. 

This picture was taken a few years ago when my sister and I, along with our great aunt took Grandma Johnnie to Aunt Joyce's condo at Lake of the Ozarks.  Don't be jealous of my awesome haircut.