Years ago, in 1982, my mom's cousin made a video of one of our many family reunions. Luckily, this one was held at my grandpa's house in Holladay, Utah. I was converting it to MPEG to put on Facebook for my mom's cousins and it got me thinking about the influence this house had on my childhood.
Wayne Shaw lived on a 3/4 acre lot that was on the slope of a hill. He built the house himself and it was a pretty cool house, I must say!
He had many trees and fruit bushes I would eat my way out of. He was not very happy about that! He was a strong believer in eating fruit out of a bowl and not off the vine.
The front part of his back yard was perfect for playing croquet. Behind that was a tree house with bushes that divided the back part of the yard. And there he had a tree swing! The best ever!
And off to the side of the tree swing and at the edge of the yard was the amazing Shaw roller coaster! WE would spend hours upon hours going down that thing! If we got hurt, no one said a thing because it might get put away. And, at the very back of the property there was an incline up to the back fence and if we were feeling adventurous, we could climb the wooden ladder built into the ground and go for a hike.
(Hey, we were kids! It was a small hike but a great place to let your imagination take over!)
There was a patio above the garage at the side of the house where many parties were held, one being the birthday party.
And there was a little play house just off the patio for all the little ones to play in. It was only 4 feet tall inside and the adults had to bend down to get in. There were little tables and chairs and toy boxes built under the picture window that was full of old clothes, hats, and shoes for little girls to play dress up. There was even a cowboy hat and some boots for the boys! And if you looked out the picture window you could watch the roller coaster pass!
Sometimes I miss that old house! We had so much fun in that yard. But the best part had nothing to do with the house or yard. It was Grandma!
Grandmas are the best!
Every Sunday and sometimes during the week we would all cram into the old suburban with Tami and I in the back seat that faces backwards and wave at all of the other motorists who were kind enough wave back (occasionally).
Grandma would always have some kind of dessert to share! Jeff would scarf it down so quick in hopes of having more, but he finally learned that you need to enjoy it because it is the only piece you are going to get! To this day he still eats very slowly!!!
The house from the front. The front yard was huge too but we were so in love with the back that we didn't go out there very much! And he rented out the basement so it was better that we stayed in the back.
On a trip to Utah we took Caroline and the kids with us to see the old roller coaster. Jeremy and Britt were just babies so they did not get to go for a ride. But Cortney, Ashley, Rebecca, and Kayla all had such a great time! I wish I had pictures of my kids but my camera was stolen right after we left. But Caroline sent me pictures of Rebecca and Kayla! This picture is of them going down grandpa's old roller coaster!
At the end of the ride you go through grape vine tunnel! I remember trying to grab some grapes while going down when they were in season. Again, Grandpa would not be happy!
The house was sold after Grandpa was too old to take care of it anymore. It was destroyed and a new one was put up. The trees, the fruit bushes, the play house and the tree house are gone too. But if you look closely the roller coaster track is still there, enjoying another batch of kids to ride it until dusk forces them inside!
Wayne was not my real grandpa but he was very good to me and he treated me just like one of his own! And I love him dearly!
While watching these videos it all came back to me. I wish there was more of the yard to see but how cool we have this! I wish I could share the ride with the rest of the kids! They would have loved it!!!
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