{"id":1728,"date":"2011-12-23T12:38:01","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T18:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.keloland.com\/lund\/?p=1728"},"modified":"2023-07-20T21:00:08","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T21:00:08","slug":"christmas-is-grandkids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/christmas-is-grandkids\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas is Grand(kids)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hannah

Hannah "Grouse" Hawkins' first encounter with the big jolly guy<\/p><\/div>\n

It is so much fun to listen to my cousin, Grouse, get completely out of character when he starts talking (gushing, really) about his first grandchild, Hannah. He was, and is, a good dad but for years I\u2019ve been telling him about the special joys of grandparenthood. He, and wife Sandy, now totally understand and..with big grins on their faces..think nothing of loading up the Hyundai with gifts and goodies and driving all the way to Kansas City once a month to shower that child with adoration.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve gone on and on here about Linda and my grandkids and how they\u2019ve enriched our lives. The trouble is, all but two have grown up and the youngest ones (ages 10 and 6) no longer burst out of the car, run up to door and squeal with delight at the very site of you. They\u2019re no longer so free with the hugs and kisses or as fascinated by how you can grab the nose from their faces and have it magically appear between your fingers or build majestic castles from a pile of Legos. Just like their parents before them and in spite of our efforts to control time, they are moving onward and upward at the speed of light anxious to experience all that life has in store for them leaving grandma and grandpa in a cloud of dust. \u00a0Oh, Linda and I aren\u2019t feeling sorry for ourselves..far from it. We\u2019ve been truly\u00a0blessed with our combined families and when they\u2019re here for Christmas it is an absolute\u00a0delight for me in particular to just sit with a glass of wine listening to them laugh and share memories. It\u2019s a real George Bailey moment that always makes me proud and thankful to God.<\/p>\n

I gotta admit, though, I can\u2019t help but feel a little jealous of Grouse and Sandy as they\u2019re just now entering the ground floor of a skyscraper filled with\u00a0so many\u00a0levels of joy..all there for the taking in the years\u00a0ahead.<\/p>\n

Up until about 8 years ago, My brother, Tom and his wife, Ilene, had yet to experience the delights of doting over a new generation of offspring..but then, Oh My. Well see for yourself.<\/p>\n

\"Linda

Linda and I have only seen one of their grandkids in person..a situation we hope to correct this summer with a grand gathering of Lunds in South Carolina.<\/p><\/div>\n

Tom has written songs for each of those eight adorable little ones marveling at the hearts capacity for unconditional love.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019ve heard a few moans and groans about the lack of snow around here for Christmas. I don\u2019t mind it so much. In fact, it\u2019s sort of fun to hear the roar of engines coming from passing motorcycles rather than snow blowers. Here\u2019s a Holiday Harley that caught my eye on East 26th<\/sup> the other day.<\/p>\n

\"random<\/p>\n

\u00a0I just found out this past week that Linda and I get to host another tour for Keloland and Holiday Vacations next summer; this time to Ireland in September. Excitement abounds..details to come. I\u2019ve also signed a deal to continue as the \u201cVoice of Keloland\u201d for another year and hope to continue visiting with you folks here a couple times a week on the Lund at Large forum which Keloland.com so generously provides.<\/p>\n

Let me use it now to say \u201cThank You\u201d to all who follow my meanderings and wish you a very \u201cMerry Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is so much fun to listen to my cousin, Grouse, get completely out of character when he starts talking (gushing, really) about his first grandchild, Hannah. He was, and is, a good dad but for years I\u2019ve been telling him about the special joys of grandparenthood. He, and wife Sandy, now totally understand and..with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11746,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1728\/revisions\/11746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}