My hard weekend

This past weekend I drove 2000 miles, spent 24 hours in a car with two toddlers, was stung by a bee, and my underwire broke in the middle of NOWHERE in Montana and the town we stayed in has NO place to buy a new one. Those parts of my weekend were all okay.
I won't go into details, but I had the hardest 48 hours I've ever had in my life. I'm recovering now, but I'm still sad about a few things, one of them the failing health of my grandfather. Most of my family gathered in Driggs, Idaho to spend some time before the winter comes and he passes away. It was good to see Pat and Libby, Ginny and Craig, my niece and nephew, my parents, my cousin and aunt, and my grandparents, especially. My grandma and I even had a little sleepover in her room for two nights, due to so much company. We had some good talks. And my grandpa is as sweet as ever. And I got to know my great Aunt Laree, my grandmother's sister. She's the sweetest old lady I've ever met in my life. And so hip! It's hard to believe she's in her mid-eighties.
In the 40's, my grandparents bought a house in Driggs with cash. The house was built around 1918 and has been in our family for 65 years. Both my grandparents were raised in Driggs, and their parents, and theirs, etc. Actually, my family name is Driggs. We settled that valley a long time ago, and no matter where I live, I consider that "home base." I love that house. I planned on taking lots of pictures of it while I was there, and lots and lots of my grandparents, but before I had taken more than a few, my camera bit the dust. So, the plethora of pictures I hoped for were never taken. Here are, however, a few.
















My grandpa owned a sporting goods store, and they used to play poker and slot machines. When he sold it, he kept the 5 cent and 10 cent slot machines, and my siblings and I used to spend hours annoying our family playing. We could, of course, take out the spent coins from the back of the machine, so we could go on forever. This is my nephew, Noah, getting addicted to the 5 cent machine.




















My grandpa has been the greatest fisherman in Teton Valley for years and years. He made a red boat, and he used to take us out fishing on Teton River when we were kids. We'd practice casting in the big backyard by the lilac bushes, and when we'd catch a big fish, he'd teach us how to hold them in pictures so they looked bigger.


















We'd play Hand and Foot (the official Driggs family card game... it takes hours, and it gets very heated) in the kitchen nook. In the summer, the petunias in the windowboxes attract hummingbirds. I saw three this weekend!




















Until recently, the house was warmed with coal. As a kid, I was terrified of the basement, not only because it was dark and cold and had a huge pile of coal, but also because this Canadian Lynx would peek around the corner to stare at me.
















These are the four surviving Floyd sisters. My grandma, DeEtta Maxine Floyd Driggs, is in the green shirt. I've always thought it was rad that my grandma's middle name is Maxine.