ninety years

Over President's Day weekend, Edward and I make the trek to Idaho to spend time with my family and to celebrate my Grandpa Griffiths' 90th birthday! We had been planning his surprise party since Thanksgiving. My Grandma didn't know about it either. The lies that were told to keep the plans progressing smoothly {Grandma kept prying--she was sure no one cared about this monumental birthday} could fill a book. Haha. But in the end, both grandparents were delightfully surprised as they arrived at my Aunt Bonita's church building to find about 80 family members in attendance--including all six of my grandparents' children and their spouses, many grandkids and great-grandkids, and some of my Grandpa's siblings and cousins.

The surprise on Grandpa's face was priceless :o)


My mom did an AMAZING job at decorating!

We had a marvelous time.
We ate.
We reminisced.
We gave Grandpa the microphone and listened to his stories.
We watched old slide shows.
We played a trivia game about Grandpa's life.
We enjoyed being together.
We honored Weldon Griffiths {one of the best men I've ever known}.
We laughed.
We made memories.

So cute in his party hat!

Grandma and Grandpa Griffiths

Let me tell you a little about the wonderful man I call Grandpa. He was born and raised in the small farming town of Clarkston, Utah. He learned from a young age that work is an essential part of life. He grew up farming. My Grandfather served a mission for our church in the Texas-Louisiana mission. He then served in the US Army during WWII. He was a soldier at the tail-end of the war and was on a crew that was stationed in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. He graduated from Utah State University, where he studied Industrial Arts. He met my Grandma (a beautiful, young returned missionary) on a blind date. They were married in the Logan, Utah LDS Temple.

My Grandpa got a job in Shelley, Idaho, where he taught wood shop/industrial design at Shelley High School. He taught there for 38 years (I think that's the right number?). My grandparents raised six children. Their six kids grew up to be very hard-working, industrious, and successful people.

After retiring, my grandparents served THREE full-time LDS missions together--in Guam, Singapore/Malaysia, and the West Indies (Trinidad).

My grandparents have 33 grandchildren and 52 great-grandchildren (with more on the way). Oh those 33 grandchildren, 18 have served full-time missions so far; 21 are married in the temple so far; and 100% of them are active and strong in the church. Whoa. Now, I don't say any of this to brag. I'm simply grateful to have grandparents who instilled such values in their kids. I'm simply grateful for the my family and the legacy I have. I'm simply grateful.

It is with much love that I honor my Grandpa Griffiths in this post. I will forever be blessed to call him my Grandfather.

My grandparents with all six of their kids.

Edward and me--enjoying the festivities.