Grandpa's 90th Birthday

Two weeks ago we went to Idaho to celebrate Grandpa's 90th birthday party. As usual, he stayed up, way past his bed time, to see us safe. We chatted for a while, and then went to bed so he could get up early with Jon and Bryce. They wanted him to show them where the sheep farms were so they could hunt coyote.

Bryce and Jon got up about 6:30 a.m. and had breakfast with Grandpa. They began to talk and didn't leave until about 8:00. Grandpa loves conversation, especially with his grandchildren. They decided to take two vehicles in case Grandpa got tired. Grandpa came back first and was exhausted and sat down for a while. After about two hours, I called Jon to see if they were on their way back. Jon said, "We're out here somewhere, but I don't know where?" Being in the Highlander, he could see a main road on the GPS a little further ahead. They ended up in Idaho Falls about 30 miles south of where they began hunting. They had a great time together and Bryce had a good nap with his a rock for a pillow.

We headed to Brady's for a birthday lunch. It's a cafe that Grandpa loves to eat at. The waitress was so cute and brought a piece of cake with a candle. It was fun to watch my dad as we sang Happy Birthday to him. He doesn't like attention.

After lunch, the real fun began. Grandpa painted dots on a box, put together some cans, pumpkins, etc. for target shooting. All of us piled in the two vehicles, Grandpa driving his truck, YIKES! We went the wrong way to start with, but turned around and ended up out west of Roberts at Doc Jones's grave. Jon sat up the targets and the guns came out. Grandpa pulled out his 7 mm mag. Let's just say that it is very powerful and one I knew not to shoot it or I would end up on the ground. Jon let me shoot his rifle, and I was surprised when I hit the targets both times. Jon and Bryce found a clay pigeon and threw up a few times trying to hit it. After about 5 shots, Grandpa said, "Let me show you. Throw it up." So they did, and Kaboom! it shattered. Bryce said something like, "It's pretty bad when a 90-year-old man can out shoot you." He just chuckled.

Grandpa was getting really cold so he sat in the truck for a few minutes. Before long he came out and said, "I know, I can shoot out my window." I was shocked because he never shot out his window that I knew of. The only thing he forgot was the power of his gun. He shot and flew across the seat hitting Grandma. He came out laughing, and I know Grandma enjoyed it. Of course, he still hit the target. He enjoyed watching as we finished up most of the shells.

The weekend ended too soon. Memories of Grandpa flooded as I thought about all the years in Idaho. It was so wonderful to celebrate my father's 90th birthday in style. When he's 100, we'll do it again. :)