Monday, April 25, 2011

Fun with Gmas


From left to right, you will see Beetz, Grandma Stewart (my dad’s mom, lovingly called Easiest Grandma by my littlest brother who liked that it only took 3 minutes to drive to her house) and Grandma Andrus (my mom’s mom).

When I invited them to go to Brick Oven with me, they we moderately excited to hang out with Beetz, Mike and me, but when I mentioned that the other Gma would be there too, they each went crazy. They were so excited to see each other.

Grandma Fun Facts:

Gma A played on BYU’s softball team when she went to college.

Gma S is Romanian. I can thank her for my skin that tans so well, but also for the notorious Bluga nose I inherited. It has been watered down by a few genes here and there, but any family member can identify that I belong to the Bluga clan by this prominent feature on my face.

Gma A can crochet, cross-stitch and any other needlepointy art like nobody’s business. She gave each grandkid an amazingly large afghan when they were born. I’ve used mine every winter since I was small and that thing is still in great shape. Thank you Gma A! I love my afghan! Keeps you nice and warm while still letting you skin breathe through the little holes. Pretty yet functional.

Gma S makes the best pies ever. She is legendary. Chocolate is my favorite, but other family members will contend that pumpkin, strawberry-rhubarb or triple layer lemon are the best. However, every pie she makes is wonderfully tasty, no matter what kind it is. The crust is always perfect and it will be my greatest achievement to make one on my own that reaches the amazingness of hers. Beetz and I make a pretty good team when we make pie crusts together. I do all of the mixing of the shortening and flour, while she does all the rolling. I hate the rolling and she hates the mixing, so it all works out well. I’m trying to be brave and conquer the whole task on my own.

Confession: When Mike and I first started dating, we had some of Gma S’s pie laying around at my family’s house. I took him a piece and didn’t claim that I made it, but didn’t correct him when I knew he assumed such. I wanted to impress him! An excellent piece of pie was sure to work in my favor in that area. Did it work? The results would indicate such. Mike proceeded to then tell his grandmother that his new girlfriend is the best pie baker ever. When Mike and I got married, his grandmother said that since I was an expert pie baker, I was assigned to bring “my” glorious pies to Thanksgiving dinner. I can make an ok pie on my own, but nothing like grandma’s. I called Gma S up and asked if she’d help me make a couple of pies to bring to my new in-laws’ Thanksgiving. You can’t leave anything to chance on these occasions! She was wonderful and helped me out. Of course they turned out lovely and I was sure to give her most of the credit. Even though the secret is out of the bag, the Cannon family still requests that I bring the pies to Thanksgiving dinner. Mike, if you ever want to go to your family’s Thanksgiving, we better stick around close to Gma S so she can help me make the pies. No Gma S = no pies for Thanksgiving. I’m bringing cupcakes to Thanksgiving dinner if Gma S can’t help me.

Gma A grew up in Ely, Nevada.

Gma S grew up in Detroit. (Unconfirmed rumors that Gma S's brother was involved in the mafia there. Odds are, probably not, but it's fun to think about anyway.)

Gma A can conquer any puzzle any time. She could probably do one even if all the pieces were flipped of over and you just had the cardboard stuff showing.

Gma S’s diet consists of 98 % junk food. Candy, chips, cookies, cake, pie, anything like that you will find in her pantry. Whenever we go visit, she always has a chip basket ready with nacho cheese to dip it all in, along with dessert for later. She took me out to eat at her favorite Chinese buffet a few weeks ago. I commented on how much I loved the vegetables. She said, “Laken, I can’t remember the last time I even had a vegetable. They’re just so much trouble to cook. I’d much rather eat Fritos anyhow.” The remarkable thing is that this woman is well into her 80s, but she’s still spry as ever, goes walking every day and needs help with very few things around the house. I no longer have any premise or excuse when I tell my future children to eat their vegetables. Apparently you do not need them to help you be healthy or strong or live to a ripe old age. Fritos will do the same thing.

Gma S is a Utah Jazz fan extraordinaire.

There are many more fun and interesting facts about my adorable Gmas. These are just a few.

Most important fact: I love my Gmas.