Grandma's family grows...part 1

It is so much fun to remember the bygone days when my family was growing up. In my last blog I told about Carol and Don. They were married in California while Don was in the Navy and after the war was over and Don was out of the Navy they moved back to Iowa with their little daughter, Shelley, who was about 2 yrs. old then. Don found a job at the Carnation Company in Waverly (now known as Nestle). They found a place to rent on an acerage near Waverly. Eventually they found a home in Shell Rock on Barbara Street. Cindy was born on July 8,1969. Now Shelley had a cute little baby sister. I loved to baby-sit my two little granddaughters and when they got older I loved to take them to Sunday School with me. Lila Hall told me one time that it was like I was bringing my two daughters to SS again. Lila remembered when I used to bring Carol & Betty to Sunday School. Lila was my neighbbor for years when we lived out on Butler Center Road. I don’t remember the exact year when Carol and Don were divorced but after that, Carol and the girls continued to live in their nice house in Shell Rock for a while. Later, Carol met a very nice young man, George Soldwisch, and they fell in love & were married in Carol’s home. Several friends and relatives attended their wedding. It was great that George loved Carol’s daughters so much too. He told me one time that they were such nice little girls and so well behaved. At that time Galen and I decided to move to our new house in town and so we asked Carol and George if they wanted to move into our house. Carol has always loved living in the country so they moved into our house and we moved to town. We were very happy in our new home in Shell Rock and Galen used part of the house as his new office. He was selling Butler County Mutual Insurance at the time. We had lived on the farm for 30 years and eventually we lived in our new house for 30 years. We were so happy to hear the news soon after Carol & George were expecting a new daughter. I will never forget the day Melinda was born! George stopped in to tell us we were Grandparents again and he said. “We are going to have so much fun with that new daughter!!” He was so happy! We were also happy to hear the news. Melinda Is now married and has two children of her own. Melinda also has a younger sister, Trisha, who joined her in March of 1980!
We loved having the four sisters visit us whenever Carol needed a baby-sitter. We had a big basement where they loved to play. It lots of toys and a rocking horse & roller skates (and a record player!). I will never forget the time Carol left Trisha at my house while she was shopping and when she got back Trisha and I were playing the piano together and shd didn’t want to go home. Ha Ha Carol told her she couldn’t come to Grama’s house any more if she didn’t want to go home when she came to pick her up! I don’t think Carol meant it. When Melinda & Trisha were in school I used to pick them up on Fridays after school and we would have Chef Boyardee pizza & other goodies for supper (chocolate pudding with whipped cream on top). I loved to have them come and I know they liked it! This is my short story about four of my Granddaughters. Little did I know then that eventually I would have ten Granddaughters and one Grandson. Bill & Dianna had 4 daughters and Betty had two Daughters and one son.

Bill attended UNI in Cedar Falls for 4 years and after he graduated he taught school in Spencer, Iowa. He taught typing and shorthand in high school. At first the only furniture he had was a Grand Piano. That was his most important purchase and it traveled with him all over the US and to Hawaii later on. Bill is a very talented piano and organ player. I really am so glad he practiced the piano and I know he really enjoys playing for church and using his talent to accompany his daughters when they play the flute or cornet. He played the organ when Jenny marched in with her graduation class in High School I was there to watch that & I was so proud of him! Bill taught at Kirkwood Community College after he taught at Spencer. Dianna was also teaching in Cedar Rapids at the time and after they met and fell in love they were married in Dianna’s church in Des Moines. They had a beautiful wedding, lots of music, and lots of friends and relatives to wish them well. We were so happy to meet Dianna’s family too. After their honeymoon they went back to Cedar Falls (where they were living at the time) and after Bill finished his year of teaching there they moved to Blacksburg, Virginia, where Bill earned his Doctorate degree in Business at Virginia Tech College. We really enjoyed visiting them when they lived there because we had never been South before. Dianna taught school there while Bill was attending college. After he graduated from there they moved to Logan, Utah, where Bill tauight in the State University there. Not long after they moved there we got the exciting news that they were expecting a baby. I was so happy to take the train out to Logan so I could help Dianna after the baby was born. I arrived in Logan on the 19th of March 1980 and Lindsey was born that night. I think Lindsey was waiting for me to come. She was such a cute baby too with dark hair and beautiful brown eyes. She was a little doll and still is!! Ha Ha Dianna & Bill had lots of company to come see her and I will never forget all the beautiful quilts they brought, all hand made. I wonder if Lindsey has any of them yet? Two years later Jenny was born and Dianna said she looked like me when she was born. Sorry Jenny! haha Must be I resemble Bill somewhat! Ha Ha Soon after Jenny was born the family moved to Hawaii where Bill taught at Brigham Young University. Erin was born two years later and Grampa & I went over to Hawaii to be there when she was born. Going to Hawaii has been so much fun for us and we love it in Hawaii. We first went there on our 25th Wedding Anniversary to visit Galen’s sister, Dorothy. Bill & Dianna have one more daugter who was the spoiled one! Ha Ha Her name is Megan and she actually told me she was spoiled. She said she got things that the other girls never could have. Is that right Megan? I will tell you all about my granddaughters and their families in future blogs. Next I want to tell you about Betty’s family... (to be continued)