Grandma VanBuren Turns 99

Today is my Grandmother's 99th birthday. Can you imagine living to be 99 years old? What a remarkable accomplishment. Oh how I love her dearly. Grandma VanBuren in 99:

1. Dark ebony eyes

2. Always in a twinkle in those ebony eyes

3. Her garden full of green peas

4. Sittin' on her porch with a bowl of peas on my lap eating until I got full

5. The arch on the car port covered in beautiful climbing roses

6. The mulberry tree in her front yard

7. The irrigation ditch out front we would swim in

8. Immaculate carpet... always. She would walk into a room and the first thing she would ALWAYS do is use her fingers to pick up any small signs of anything on her carpet

9. Picking the mulberries and tracking squashed purple mulberries in on her white perfect carpet

10. Her creamy mac n' cheese

11. The dishes were always perfectly set, a beautiful table spread

12. Rolling eggs down the hill at Joe's Valley Reservoir

13. The bright glittery t-shirt she gave me for my birthday

14. Sleeping on her pull out couch and always rolling to the center

15. The clock that chimed every 15 minutes

16. The smell of Caress soap in her bathroom

17. The back scratcher in her tub

18. Roast and green beans

19. Driving in Grandma and Grandpas's blue car the Boise temple dedication

20. Eating butterscotch discs on that drive

21. The camper on the back of her truck we would picnic with at the reservoir

22. Her whacking Grandpa on the drive home from fishing and screeching, "Fred, you stay awake!"

23. Pictures of her in white standing in front of the Manti Temple

24. She was sealed to Grandpa in the Manti Temple

25. Called to serve in Manti with Grandpa as he was a sealer there

26. Her teeth sitting in a cup on the washbasin in the bathroom

27. Sleeping out in her camper on visits to Orangeville

28. Walking from her house to the gas station to buy a treat

29. Grandma's voice saying, "Oh, I'm alright."

30. The marble game that I would pull back on the knob and the spring would launch it into the marble and it would bounce around until dropping to the bottom. Over and over again.

31. The smell of her home. The smell that you can only describe as love because it was Grandma's smell.

32. Her lipstick lined up on her dresser.

33. Listening to old records.

34. Bright green pickles

35. Participating in Manti on my endowment date.

36. Sitting on the couch in my front room waiting for Grandma and Grandpa's car to come up over the hill and make their way down Bob Barton to our house.

37. The sound of their car rolling in the driveway.

38. Eating Chinese at the Chinese Restaurant

39. Post-um

40. Total cereal

41. Making Grandpa's famous carmel corn recipe

42. Visiting with her and Grandpa in their assisted care home in Payson

43. Her sunken eyes and non-responsiveness at Grandpa's funeral

44. Her complete comeback and turn around

45. Spry and sharp as a tack

46. Always referring to Jonathan as my 'Beau'

47. Eating mutton for the first time at Orangeville's 24th of July celebration

48. Waking up the stick on dynamite going off on the 24th of July each year

49. Her scary dark basement

50. Her telling stories about how Grandpa would kiss her good-bye every single day

51. Falling in love with grandma up by the old mill

52.