Memories

So this little pile of Chex mix brought back some really nice memories. It is officially called Muddy Buddies, and though I made it with the recipe off the back of the box, you can also find it here at the Chex website.

It brings back the memories of going to my Grandma's house up in small town Mentone, Indiana. For those who have never heard of it (which unless you are family probably includes you), it is a little town in central Indiana with a population of almost 1500 people, and only has a land mass of .6 square miles. Despite the small size though, Mentone "is the self-proclaimed 'Egg Basket of the Midwest' because of prolific commercial egg production in the area." (There is a big concrete egg in the town square that we have many a picture of me standing in front of through the childhood years.) But I digress...

Anyways, it brings back the memories of going to my grandparents house, which was the typical country house, not with the country furnishings like in the magazines but the furnishings of a house that was kept super clean and in very good repair (with little wear and tear) even though nothing had been changed or remodeled since olive green and shag carpeting was in style. There wasn't a dishwasher, and in the florescent pink basement was a second refrigerator, probably dating from my grandparents early adulthood, and a second freezer.... Anyways, I remember that my grandmother would always make this stuff when she knew us grand kids were coming to visit. (Knowing her though, she would actually make it weeks or months before our visit, along with all the other meals for our visit, and store it in the freezer downstairs in an old butter dish container with the date on it, so that she could rest up for us coming to visit.)

If you can't tell, I have many, many fond memories of going to my grandparents house in Mentone. So many that it is hard not to get sidetracked from one to the other. In fact, I don't think I have any bad memories of the place or those grandparents at all. The only thing I wish is that I could have been a little older before they were into all the health problems, so that I could have gotten to know them more. It is one of those things, where, if I could become more like anyone I have ever known, I would want to be the solid, Bible believing, family centered, small town individuals that they were. Yes, were. They passed away the Christmas when Mike and I were engaged. I can't complain though because I have never met anyone else that was so sure that Heaven exists and so unafraid of death as they were. I know too, that they are up in Heaven praying and cheering our family on, just like they did here on earth.