In loving memory of Betty Ruth MacGregor

Last month, Addison and I had the opportunity to go down to California and spend a week with my grandma. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer last November.

Here is Addison on the car ride down. He was such a good little traveling buddy.



We arrived Thursday July 29 in the evening because I knew my parents would be there and I wanted to see them too. Here is Addison playing with Grandma (my mom) and his little farm she gave him for his birthday.

Great Gramma (my grandma) got out a box of toys for Addison to play with that she kept. Lorie and I used to play with these at Grandma's when we were kids. It brought back so many memories. Grandma was the source of our favorite childhood memories. She used to have Lorie and I come over, sometimes together, sometimes separately, to spend the day with her. We got to watch whatever we wanted on her big screen TV, have whatever we wanted for lunch and she always had soda and icecream! Could life get any better? Yes it could. She even used to take us out to eat sometimes. Being one of 6 children, you don't get that kind of one on one time very often.

I used to love that little McDonalds!

Here is Addison Tavish with Grandpa Tavish (my daddy)

We got to swim in Grandma's pool. Addison had a great time swimming with aunt Baba (that's his name for Lorie, for whatever reason...)

Grandma also bought each one of her granddaughters a watch this summer. She said if I ever came down, she would get me one too. So one morning we (Grandma, my cousin Heather, Lorie Addy and I) set off to do some shopping, get McDonalds smoothies and get me a watch. Grandma wouldn't tell me where we were going just where to turn. It was also a little fun to park in the handicap spot legally. I was a little surprised though when we pulled up to Batteries +! lol. That's so Grandma. Up at the front by the registers are 2 little carousels: one with watch bands and one with watch faces. You just pick out what you want and they put it together for you. They had tons of cute colorful ones, but I wanted to be able to wear it with pretty much everything, so I opted for silver. I did get a little color in my watch face though. I love it! And because it was a gift from my grandma, it is extra special to me.

I bought Addy a little chair while we were there. He liked to sit in his little corner and watch movies. He is so cute.

Grandma also has a peach tree at her house. Lorie and I had fun looking up peach recipes and making all kinds of treats for Grandma. Here is Addison picking peaches. There were some low enough that he could reach and he just thought it was awesome. He kept saying "a peach a you... a peach a me... a peach a you... a peach a me..." as he was picking. It was so stinkin' cute. (a peach for you, and he would hand me one, a peach for me, and he would put one in his own bag)

While we were there, we also went into Grandpa's music room. He passed away 6 years ago. He LOVED music and has a very extensive record collection and his music room holds all kinds of treasures that you just can't put a price on.

Addy, Lorie and me the day we left. Grandma woke us up Tuesday morning all excited about going to a store called "Tuesday morning." So we headed on down there. She was so cute picking out jewelry for herself.

One of the peach recipes I found was called a "peach betty," which I did not make, but Grandma got a kick out of it having her name in it, so we made her a peach pie and just carved Betty in that. She loved it.

It was fun getting to cook for Grandma and serve her. One of the dishes I made for her was hamburger stroganoff, which I love with all of my heart, and I couldn't believe in her nearly 84 years she had never had. It was her lucky day. :) She loved it.

Here are Lorie, me, Grandma and my cousin Heather. All the MacGregor girls except Katie. Grandma usually puts up a big fuss about pictures, but she didn't fight this one at all and got right in.

It was very hard to leave her Tuesday morning knowing that I would never see her again in this life. I called her the next morning to let her know I'd gotten home safely, and she got very serious, which is very unlike her and she said "I will see you again." I know that is true.

Betty Ruth MacGregor passed away this past Friday night at 11:48pm. She is now with Grandpa and I know she is much happier.

I love you Grandma. Thank you for being in my life. You are very loved and you will be missed.