Sunday, August 2, 2009

not sitting on her rocker

So maybe my claim to fame can be that I was once room mates with Grandma Gutke.  She let me stay with her while I was finishing my degree at USU while Karl was finishing his at UT Austin.  She was such a great room mate.  She even packed me a little lunch to take to school every day.  Nice, huh?

If you know her, you know how amazing she is.  

It was her 85th birthday a few weeks ago and we headed up to Logan to celebrate.
First, we got her present ready...
She took some buckets and shovels to CA for the kids and somehow we lost or broke all of them.  So, for her gift, we replaced them.  We decorated them for a personal touch.
Karl wrote, "Don't kick this." On one of them. 

Grandma Gutke has always wanted to play the accordion so her kids arranged for an accordion performance and later some lessons.  Unfortunately, Grandma broke her wrist just a couple weeks before, so her lessons would have to be postponed.

What is a Gutke family gathering without singing the Gypsy Girl song?  
Some of the grandkids gathered around afterwards to sing the song again.  

We ended the night with some Ironport and chocolates.
 
And if that wasn't enough...
Last week she practiced with the Tabernacle Choir.  Neat, right?
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This is where they had her stand up and said lot's of neat things about her like, she has a park named after her.  
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She looks so happy up there.
Samuel was happy, too. Here he is "stealing Grandma's nose."
  
Afterwards, the cousins cheesed it up in front of the fountain.  
  
To end this night, we headed to Hires for a treat.

I love the way Samuel's lips stick out when he is focusing.

It has been years since I have been there and I am pretty sure I have never had their root beer floats.  I am positive I never would have forgotten if I had ever had one.  They are huge.  I wonder if they have to go through some serious training to be able to build one of these things.
Cute niece ordered her root beer float with the "float" on the side.  I love a girl that knows what she wants.

I love this picture.  Ridley cracked us all up the way that he was loving that root beer freeze and I love Christine's smile.
 
Boy, we love to celebrate.

Grandma Gutke, you are amazing.  Thank you for letting us celebrate you.
Now, if we could just get the Tabernacle Choir to sing the Little Gypsy Girl...

12 comments:

Unknown said...

THis is a great post, Christina! I am sure Grandma will love it! I wish I had been around for some of those celebrations!

Kathryn said...

We did have fun celebrating. Grandma has had an eventful summer! All of it has been great with the exception of her broken wrist. In case you hadn't heard, she figured out why she fell. The Berkinstock shoes she was wearing are old and the sole was separating and flapping. She didn't realize they were damaged. Apparently, the sole grabbed the carpet and threw her forward. How sad! She threw one of the shoes away but kept one to remember what happened. (Mom just called me while I was writing this comment. She called with the news that Paul and Amelia had their baby early this morning. He was 6 lbs. and 20 inches long. Congratualions to the Gutkes.)

Abbigail said...

That is an amazing post. Almost as amazing as Grandma Gutke. She is the best. I love that you guys got her new buckets since our kids destroyed all of hers in California. She looked great singing with the choir.
I am so jealous you went to Hires. That is one of my favorite places to eat in SLC. I wish we could have been there, once again. Thanks for posting the pictures so I could participate through you.

Kathryn said...

I forgot to comment on the decorated buckets. Grandma doesn't even want to use the new one you gave her. She is afraid they might get ruined. The decorations carved in them is precious. She really laughed at "Don't kick the bucket!"

Sean said...

Great post. Thanks for sharing your pictures with us. I'm sorry I didn't make it to the practice that night to see Grandma, so I'm glad you captured it for me :)

Lindsay said...

It is so fun seeing pictures of Grandma singing with the choir! I heard about it...but didn't think I would get to see it. :) What a fun post...that Hire's RB float looks amazing...I miss that place!

MarilynG said...

I agree with everyone else -- I love the pictures and commentary of Grandma's recent activities.

Grow Family said...

Thanks for posting this Christina. Both events were really fun. I'm sad that I missed them introduce Grandma and have her stand. That must have been when I was on a potty break with Ada. I enjoyed the pictures. Also it was so much fun going to Hires with you guys afterward. We're all so proud of Grandma so I'm glad you were able to capture the moment.

Grow Family said...

Oops, I forgot to thank you for the nice comment about my smile in the picture with Ridley. You're so sweet. I usually hate pictures of myself so I'm glad you caught a decent one.

Malea said...

Cute post, fun family! Just a question, 'tho. If she's not sitting in her rocker, does that mean that she's a little "off her rocker"? (hehe)

Angela said...

That is so awesome. I wish I could have been there to see it too. And of course to get a yummy root beer float.

destiny said...

Thanks so much for sharing this! I wish I could have seen how happy grandma was on both her (and my) birthday and her getting to sing with the choir! I just love Grandma B!!

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