DAY 7: We spent much of day 7 exploring my parent’s property. We kicked off our adventures with the traditional forklift rides. Isaac and Charlotte took turns riding the forklift with their grandfather. He showed them how to lift a pallet up and down and even gave them a ride on the pallet and loaded them onto a truck.
Next they had a tour of his warehouse which included showing the children the kiddie rides that grandpa Bird has been storing for a company.
DAY 5: Our first day in Ohio was mostly spent relaxing at my parents’ house.
Lee stopped over as we were having some lunch and introduced us to his girlfriend, Jen. We had a nice visit with Lee and Jen as we munched on french fries and BBQ chicken. Nicole took to Lee right away. She snuggled up to him as soon as he picked her up and enjoyed smiling at him and making faces.
DAY 4 CONTINUED: The airport experience with three little kids is a little crazy. The kids were actually quite good, but just the management of them all would have been 
impossible on my own. Once we made it through security, we stopped at a little play area before going to our gate. This provided a perfect opportunity for a potty break. Unfortunately, Charlotte managed to get her underwear wet while sitting on the potty so I had to make the trek back and forth to the bathroom with a fresh pair of “airplane underwear.†By the time I was finished (the play area was not close to the bathroom), I could only allow Charlotte 10 minutes to play before we scuttled them all off towards the gate.
DAY ONE: We were lucky enough to have Zach’s new job pay for a moving company to 
pack and move our belongings. I think if not for that I really would have lost my sanity. They came at 8:00 AM and worked until 7:00 PM packing and loading our things onto a gigantic semi-truck. The beginning of the day went well, Grandma Cochran took Nicole and Isaac went to school so I just had Charlotte with me and Zach’s Aunt Neta who had come down to help. We sat on the couch and talked as they worked through the morning.
I think almost everyone who reads this blog already knows about our upcoming move, but there may be a few who we we don’t see often and don’t use facebook so for those few, here’s our official announcement: We’re moving from Orem, UT to Knoxville, TN.
When Zach first suggested taking a job out of state,
I was VERY opposed to the idea. I thought we would probably spend the rest of our lives here in Utah, perhaps even in this house. Of all the things I’ve come to love about Utah, living so close to my in-laws has been the absolute best and I will sorely miss living so close to them.
As the job interviews started to come, I couldn’t help but feel blessed at the number of good opportunities that Zach had available to him. We had been praying for months for a way to increase our income and improve our financial situation. I expected the answer to our prayers to keep us here, but at one point, Zach was in various stages of the interview process with 7 different companies in 6 different states and not one of them was in Utah. It took a couple of weeks for me to be ok with the idea of moving, but before long I found that my mind had been changed and I knew that a move was inevitable and I somehow found myself ok with the idea.
The next step was selecting the best job opportunity and though the process only took a month or two, it seemed to take forever. I was pleased when the decision was finally made that he would work for Jewelry TV in Knoxville, TN. Of all the cities that he interviewed in, Knoxville was my top choice. I have fond memories of Knoxville because it’s where my grandmother lived. I spent every Christmas there and a week out of each summer there for my entire childhood. It’s within driving distance of my parents and I have some extended family in the area as well.
Today was my ultrasound and of course the big news is we’ll be having another girl. I’m always amazed at all the different things that they can see and measure and I can happily report that she passed every test and measurement. Our fourth child now holds the record for giving the doctor the hardest time and for providing us with the worst ultrasound pictures.
There’s some unspoken rule where you’re not allowed to say which of your children is your favorite or which of your siblings is your favorite—I guess I’m breaking that rule now. (I honestly couldn’t really say which kid is my favorite, but that’s a tangent).
Krista and I have been really good friends for most of our lives. We shared a single bed when we were kids, although now I can’t really remember when that started or why—she did have her own bed.
There are some things that instantly remind me of a time or a place or a person. Today 
I was at the store and saw a box of ‘Danish Style Butter Cookies’ on sale and it instantly reminded me of my grandma O’Bryant. During Christmas time, she always had a tin full of these little cookies that looked much like this picture with the pleated cupcake style papers and stacks of shaped cookies. My favorites were the ones with the big pieces of sugar on top.
I also can’t see someone throw pizza dough in the air without thinking of my grandpa O’Bryant or smell lilies without thinking of grandma.
**Hey Cousins: Do any of you have a copy of that picture of grandpa in grandma’s kitchen throwing the pizza dough in the air? I also want pictures that show any part of grandma’s room, the red room, or the basement. I’m particularly interested in pictures of grandma’s ceramic painting tables or grandpa’s plane.
I have no pictures for most of the next few rooms, unfortunately. Grandma’s bedroom was at the end of the hall. I remember thinking that she had the softest bed in the world. Her blankets were a light turquoise and she had a headboard with shelves. She probably had books up there, but I only remember an alarm clock and lotion. I remember thinking her bedroom light was neat because she had a dimmer switch on it and I’d never seen one before. She had a tall dresser on the wall between the door and the closet where she kept a TV. She liked to turn the TV on sometimes to help herself fall asleep. On the other side of the bed was a tall bookshelf and a tall spinning chair like the kind in the living room (curved wood with patterned cushions). She had a dog bed in her room while Mitsey was still around. Across from the bed was a long dresser with a big mirror over it. She kept pictures of grandchildren on the bookshelf and on the dresser with the mirror. She had a bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet in her bedroom.
Last August my dear grandmother passed away, so on Memorial day I wanted to visit her grave. When she actually died, I was too emotional to talk about it with my kids so today was the first real experience I had to tell them about my grandmother and her death. Charlotte didn’t say much, but Isaac was full of questions. I told him stories about her one-eyed dog, Mitsey and about drinking root beer floats and watching movies. He asked me questions about her and about death and resurrection in general. I wish I could have recorded every word because we had some very special touching moments and I felt good to be able to share my love of my grandmother with him. He wants to make a flag to put in front of our house today that says “Grandma O’Bryant†because then everyone who sees it will know that we are remembering her today.
**I could only find pictures of one of the rooms that I describe here, so I scattered pictures of that room throughout the descriptions of the others**
Through the kitchen was the opening to the hallway. I loved grandma’s hall. She kept giant bullion boards filled with pictures. She had an assortment of pictures old and new that she rotated and changed regularly. I must have spent hours in her hall just looking at pictures. She had framed pictures of all of her children when they were young and of all of their families as they got older. I loved to see how everyone grew and changed and to find treasures among the old pictures. It was fun to find pictures of my family scattered about in her collection. She had a wall hanging in the hall that listed all the birthdays in the family by month I used to study it to find out whose birthdays were close to mine and to see who had been added most recently.
The door that we used most to go in and out of Grandma’s house was probably the back sliding door. As you walked in the door you were instantly surrounded by the dark wood paneling that covered the walls. There was a stone wall to the left with a fireplace and a stone ledge in front of the fireplace. In the corner where the stone wall met the wall with wall of the sliding door was grandma’s TV. It was the kind that had a door that could cover it and big built in speakers. Grandma had a big collection of VHS movies that she had taped off of television. 
My family didn’t get cable television until after I was married, so it was always amazing to me that I could watch a cartoon any time of the day at Grandma’s house. I thought Nickelodeon was wonderful. The living room furniture was unique. She had a wood coffee table that was rounded and curvy and the chairs and couch had an old log furniture style to them. The couch was made of rounded dark wood pieces that resembled logs with green stripped cushions. Our favorite chairs in her living room were a set of chairs made of curved log style wood with patterned cushions on them. They sat on a rounded base and could turn completely around. We loved to spin on them or spin siblings or cousins on them and I’m sure we were regularly cautioned about spinning them too fast or too recklessly.
We usually visited my Grandparents in TN twice a year, at Christmas time and once in the summer. They lived on Yarnell road just off of Campbell Station road. I remember Campbell Station
as a treacherous windy road with a cliff to one side and a forested hill on the other. The road was slightly slanted which made it particularly dangerous in the rain or when it was icy or snowy. There would often be a flowered cross at some point along the windy stretch of the road to signify the spot of a fatal accident. where multi accidents happens at a same time in such a case you can also consult attorneys for multi-vehicle accident charges as they can help you legally. One time we were visiting TN at the same time as our cousins from Texas (the Paynes) and they had a car accident on Campbell Station road on the way home from church. My cousin Jenni and both of her parents had to spend time in the hospital with serious injuries. Ironically there was a picture in the paper after the accident of my dad holding my little sister (Krista, I think). That accident was a particularly memorable experience for me because on the way to church my parents had let me ride with our cousins to church and they wouldn’t let us ride back to grandma’s house in their car after church. With the help of the lawyers from https://halelaw.com/sarasota-personal-injury-attorney/motorcycle-accidents site, my family was able to recover soon and was back in no time. You can also read by this link how to claim compensation with the help of injuries for the injuries sustained.
Living out in the country meant that there were few kids our age around, so when we were young our only playmates were our siblings and the great outdoors. I remember playing with my younger brother, Lee when we were little. I can remember building block structures and playing with little action figures. There was a closet in the backroom downstairs filled with stuff and we used to pretend it was a hide-out of sorts. Our little figures would tunnel in or set up camp in the variety of cracks and crevices that we could find. We had a little toy van that we drove around for awhile with an odd assortment of action figures.
* The Tall girl in the picture is Tara Runion whose family rented the bottom half of our house. I don’t have pictures of the things I wrote about so you’ll have to settle for pics of us as kids.
I had Mrs. Moyer for third grade and then again for third/fourth split. She was my 
favorite teacher and I think I may have been her favorite student. At one point I got a C on my report card and I think she didn’t want me to feel bad about it because she gave me a Bernstein Bears Calendar for having ‘the highest C average.’ Ironically, I don’t think she gave out gifts to the students who got all As and Bs. One day she told me that she was impressed with how I had overcome my learning disability. She said something like “If I hadn’t looked in your records, I wouldn’t have known you had a learning disability.†Mrs. Moyer was unique in many ways. After lunch she would have one student read at her desk while she walked around giving us back and shoulder massages. 
She also had a big jar of peanuts on her desk that she’d give out as rewards. I remember my favorite part of the peanut was the salted peanut shell. Later in life when I had salted peanut shells, I was surprised to find that they weren’t nearly as good as I had remembered them. One time, Mrs. Moyer brought in a wheat grinder and we ground our own wheat and made fresh bread in class. I also remember her giving the class the deodorant lecture in our reading circles. I don’t remember how she said it, but I do remember her saying that some of us were starting to stink and that it was time for deodorant. For some reason, I picture a sweaty tall boy named Cory at the table and thinking that he was the one who needed deodorant.
In fifth grade I had Mrs. Thom (at least I think that’s how you spell her name). She had short blondish hair and she was an older lady. I honestly don’t remember much about her or my seventh grade teacher, Mr. Zirger. All I can remember about him is that he was male and had a mustashe. He may have had reddish brown hair.
I went to Clinton Elementary school from Kindergarten through 6th grade. Of all the elementary schools in our school district, I thought Clinton was the most attractive. It was located in the middle of the country with big white columns in the front. I have a very imperfect memory of things so I’ll do my best to write what I recall.
Barbara Elisabeth Orman Bird was my grandmother’s name. 
When mom had her first child, Grandma suggested she name her Barbara. Mom was not thrilled about the idea because the name sounded like an old woman name to her, but mom thought that grandma would be unhappy if she didn’t take her suggestion and so my oldest sister was named Barbara. I knew my grandmother favored my older sister, but I honestly didn’t mind. I’m always sad to admit it, but I never felt really close to my grandma Bird. I remember sometimes my parents would leave Barbara to stay with my grandma while the rest of us went home. I think Barb and I both stayed once.
**I should start with a disclaimer. I know that Grandma’s office was on Lincoln Ave. in Bellevue. I browsed Google Earth and the pictures I’ve included look somewhat like the places I remembered. Although my grandmother’s house looks the same that it did 20 years ago, downtown has changed some. I do remember seeing a red white and blue barbershop thing close to her office. I also faintly remember walking by a car dealership that was close to her house which I saw a few blocks down on Google Earth and I recognized a big stone bank that used to be Mellon Bank close by**
Grandma owned her own real estate office (Bird Reality) in downtown Bellevue. Her 
office was close enough to her home that we walked there regularly when we were visiting. I remember that her business motto was “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” She had a little office with brown paneling on the walls. In the back room she had a kitchen with a fridge. I imagine a picture of an owl cross-stitch on the wall, but it may be misplaced in my memory. I think maybe she used an owl in her company logo or something because I think of brown and orange owls when I think of her office. Grandma must have been excellent at managing money because somehow she saved up enough to give us a generous college fund. She started putting money away for our college fund when we were born, or shortly thereafter, but wasn’t able to establish one for each of my siblings before she died (when I was about 11). I remember my mom telling me once that she was a little frustrated that they had so many kids because she couldn’t keep up.
We loved to play outside at Grandma’s house. 
In front of her house just under the windows was a flowering tree that had these leaves that would turn brown and curl up in the fall. We used to pretend they were tacos and fill them with dirt (beef). Grandma also had these plants in the back yard at the far end that had really big leaves. We’d either pretend they were salad or put the tacos on top of a leaf (thus using the leaf as a garnish). I remember the ivy that was climbing up the yard and the big tree in front of the house. I think Lee put one of Barbara’s bras up in that tree from the upstairs apartment once and I remember having a hard time figuring out how we could retrieve the bra. There were steps leading up to the building and the steps had brick and concrete platforms next to them that we regularly used as a bench or a table.
We visited my Grandma Bird in Pennsylvania whenever we could. 
We always called her Pittsburgh Grandma, although she lived just outside of Pittsburgh in Bellevue. I thought the drive took about 5 hours, but Google maps thinks we could get there in 3 1/2. We took toll roads most of the way. This meant that for most of the drive, there wasn’t much along the road except the occasional rest stop. Some of the rest stops had eating establishments. It seems like the most familiar rest stop had both a Popeye’s Chicken and a Dunkin Donuts. Usually we didn’t buy food. We’d go in to use the bathroom and eat the snacks my parents packed in the car. Sometimes my dad would buy a side of red beans and rice at Popeye’s. As we got closer, we’d each try to pick out landmarks that told us that we were getting close. The most distinctive one I can remember was a big hill where you could see a trail of red lights climbing up one side and white lights coming down the other. We all tried to find one that was far enough away that we knew we were almost there first.