Memories of Grandma Jacobson…and a temple!

Grandma Jacobson is my mother’s beloved mother whose words run through all of our hearts:

“When you master the seemingly impossible, it does something for you that fits into your very character for a lifetime, and makes the next impossible thing seem that much easier.”

Grandma Jacobson

Those words she wrote in her journal during some particularly difficult growing-up-on-a-farm experiences have encouraged all of us, and our kids, to embrace the “impossible” in any way we can!

That tall, slender, ultra-athletic woman took herself lightly and also scared our pants off in the practicing piano category.

She meant business I tell you! I feel like maybe she’s giving the business to my mom about something or other in this photo: ha!

But oh her heart was as good as gold. See her off to the left behind me in the pink in this picture:

Oh I love that lady!

She passed away shortly after Dave and I got married, but he has the best memories of her. The first time he met her she was laying on her bed after a pretty awful hip injury watching the 49ers play football. Oh she was hollering for that beloved team of hers and Dave knew she’d be a kindred spirit right from the start.

Grandma Jacobson’s House

Since we grew up spending our summers at Bear Lake every year, we spent a lot of time at Grandma Jacobson’s house. We sometimes had sleepovers. We could walk to the grocery store to buy treats. Every summer we planted a big garden at her house and came in to weed and tend it each week. And that woman had the best dress-ups since both her daughters were in beauty pageants. Yep. Have I ever mentioned my mom was Miss Bear Lake? And my aunt went on to be the first runner up to Miss Idaho. Yes they were a pageant family.

Anyway, this last summer my mom contacted the awesome women who now own Grandma Jacobson’s house and they were pleased as punch for us to come relive some memories walking through that place.

We loaded up my brother’s sprinter van, every one of us nine kids plus my sister-in-law and parents, (Dave and most of the other spouses were gone by this time) and headed on in to see that house filled with so many of our memories.

We whisked by all those fields we passed in our childhood, still green with crops and huge wheeled sprinklers.

And arrived at that old, well-cared for home that used to be “ours.”

Here’s an old picture from long ago to show a different stage of upkeep on that thing:

Here’s the attic room that used to be painted purple and held all of my mom’s old memorabilia and a really squishy double bed we’d sleep on.

Here’s the kitchen:

It has changed so much but we could all envision all those hot cakes our Grandma would whip out for us in the mornings. And the creamed peas and potatoes she would make with the fresh vegetables we would harvest from the garden. That’s very importantly where I was introduced to Frankenberry cereal (dreamy to my young elementary-aged self). Ha!

Here’s the family room where we would sit and snap beans and shell peas in front of whatever sports our Grandma would have on the television:

We explored the downstairs we all thought was so spooky growing up.

Her old bedroom was so different, but loved remembering it as the spot where hundreds of games of Yahtzee were played.

We explored the back yard that used to be half-way filled up with our summer garden:

It was quite a trip down memory lane!

The ground-breaking for the Montpelier Temple

Montpelier, where this old home is and where my mom grew up, seems to be an unlikely place for a temple.

But a couple conferences ago they announced there would be one built right there in that spot. I had to rewind and re-listen. Montpelier, Idaho?? It’s tiny. But I guess it’s a middle ground for so many small towns in that area.

And as luck would have it, the spot where the temple will be built is literally kitty-corner right across the street.

If you’re standing right there (above) and you turn around and look back to your left, behind those glowing trees, there sits my Grandma’s house:

How crazy is that? It will be fun to watch the progression.

We drove past my mom’s old high school:

And down Main Street that is filled up with deserted shops.

I think the temple will do much to revitalize this old town.

Then we drove on home through golden clouds, all filled up in the van again.

…with a quick stop to do a little headshot of my brother Tal who needed to turn it in for a book he is writing:

(The book is called Dad Mode and I think it’s going to be SO GOOD!)

Drove along that dirt road filled up with so many of our memories back and forth through the years, back to the commotion of the lake.

As I embark on this business of Grandmother-hood I sure have a lot of examples to look up to.

And my Grandma Jacobson is one of the best of the best. Love to think of her rooting us all on as we embark on our own different “impossibles” in life.