Cooper Hollow Road aka Memory Lane

Friday, May 25th was a fabulous day!

A warning - The day was so fabulous that it warranted a very long post!

Jason woke me up this morning to say that he really wanted to do something fun.  The kids had the day off from school, and he starts back at work on Monday, Memorial Day.  He feels like he's running out of time.  I do to.  He's had the last 4 1/2 weeks off for paternity leave, and we are all a little anxious about Monday.  The kids will be home from school for the holiday, and Jason will be back at work caring for our Veterans.  

So what do we do that is cheap, fun, easy with 5 kids + newborn, and Memorial Day appropriate?

We take a stroll down memory lane.

We loaded up all the kids and headed south.  When we got to Salem kids were needing a potty break.  This is when I got emotional.  This was only the second time I've been down there since my parents moved.  The first time was at Christmas time for my nieces baptism when they were visiting from Australia.  For fifteen years my parents were there for potty breaks and snacks.  I did shed some tears.  I just haven't had to face it head on like that too often.  Jason said that if it made me feel better, we couldn't visit his parents either.

This made me feel worse.  Or just even more sad.

Let me explain why.  My parents lived there for 15 years.  Jason's parents lived there for almost 40 years.  His father passed away in Salem in 1997, and his mom moved to Utah a year later.  So, yeah... I was made more sad with the thought that here we were on our way to visit his dad's grave site, and I was whining that I couldn't see my dad, who I just saw in January.  Also, Jason lived there his whole life, till he was 19, in the same house, and now can never visit there or see his parents there.  I wouldn't have any idea what it would be like to have lived in the same town, or house with the same friends and people my whole life like that. 

How much would I miss it then?  How much does Jason miss it?  I think today he was really missing all that.  I think he was especially missing his dad.  As we drove away from the cemetery this afternoon he said that he misses his dad's guidance and silly jokes.  He wishes he could hear him laugh. 

Back to my story, I got off track there, but that's OK.  This is all about our stroll down memory lane.

We were in Salem, needing a bathroom.  I also needed to feed the baby.  So we stopped at the Salem Riverfront Park and Carousel.  This is a place we have been visiting and playing at since Glenn and Lily were tots.  Our children LOVE this place!  We have had many picnics and fun times there.  The kids were THRILLED when stopped there.  We used the bathrooms, fed the baby, played at the park and each kid got TWO rides on the carousel.  Harrison was SO excited about the fact that he got TWO rides!

This was his second ride.  I laughed SO hard when I saw this picture that Jason took.  He is making the same face as the donkey aka ass that he is sitting on!!!

 Bennett was so nervous at first.  He didn't remember riding the carousel, and how much he loves it! 

 

 Max being a cool guy.

I just LOVE Maxwell's sweet, shy smile.

For some reason this is the only picture Jason got of Lily on the Carousel.  A nice action shot if you ask me.

 You're never too old to love riding a pretend horsey on a carousel.

Bennett had a blast playing at the park.

 The sunshine was perfect!  We even got a little sweaty from playing in it.

 Playing Peek a Boo with daddy.  He is just the cutest, sweetest two year old EVER!

Waving Hello to daddy in the middle of Peek a Boo!  See what I mean?  Cutest EVER!  Right?

One of my favorite parts of the day was Lily teaching Bennett how to roll down the grassy hill.  I remember many years ago, when she was his age, teaching her to roll down the same hill.

After our little break we continued on to Monmouth.

 This was our reason for driving all the way down there.  Jason really wanted to visit his dad's grave site.  Not only is it Memorial Day weekend, and his dad did serve during the Korean War, but also I think he's been missing his dad.  Theodore is named after him, and I know I've been thinking about Jason's dad a lot lately.

His dad is buried in the most beautiful spot.  It is so peaceful, and overlooks the valley where their family farm is.

I love the pictures we took of the kids.  For some reason Glenn felt the need to put his hands on Theo's and Harrison's heads.  I think Harrison really didn't like it.  I noticed when Theo was starting to fuss, so apparently he didn't like it either.

I had to post all of these because Harrison is making a different and just as crazy face in each picture.  That kid makes us laugh so hard.  He just cannot help himself!

At Grandpa Ritz's Grave Site.

Jason's dad's name was Robert Theodore Ritz.  We named two sons after this amazing man.  Glenn Robert, and Theodore. 

After the cemetery we drove through Monmouth, past our first house after Jason graduated from BYU.  It is such a cute house.  Hey!  It's for sale!  We lived there with just Glenn and Lily.  Max said we should buy it!  Well, it's only 1/3 the size of the house we currently live in.  I wish we could live there.  It is a good house, with a great yard, and seeing it reminded me of simpler times.  Sorry Max, there is NO way we would fit in that house now.

We also drove past my parents house there, and the house that Jason's parents lived in after they sold the farm.

Then, we drove out to Cooper Hollow Road.  This is where Jason grew up.  His parents owned it for over 30 years.  When they lived there it was a working turkey farm, with sheep and other animals too.  Now it is a horse boarding place.

We kind of pulled off to the side so Jason could point things out to the kids.  They were all excited.  There was a dog in the yard barking at us.  A woman came out of the house, so I rolled down the window to say sorry, and that my husband grew up here so he was just showing our kids his old home.  She was all excited and said that she would love for us to come in and let us explore the house and land!  She said, "We always do that for your family."  She was excited that some Ritz's were stopping by.  I knew that all of Jason's siblings and his mom had all visited.  

Jason is the youngest in his family.  I came into the family after they had sold the farm, and after his dad had passed away.  When they reminisce I just listen and soak it in.  I have loved getting to know his dad through his journal, photo's and their memories of him and where they grew up.  I have never been in the old house or on the land.  I've only driven past it a billion times, and seen 100's of pictures.  I was REALLY excited! 

It was SO so cool to watch Jason excitedly run around the yard telling stories and describing what it was like in his day etc.  The kids hung on his every word.  The owner said that the old tree house had just come down from rot.  Jason was excited because he and his dad had built that tree house.  So then he showed the kids where it was, and what it looked like etc.  Then he and the owner started discussing other trees, and what was new, and what had come down etc.  All of the sudden Jason stopped and exclaimed, "I planted that tree!"  When he was about 11 he went up in the woods and dug up a small Christmas tree.  His dad helped him put it in a pot.  He put it in his room as his own personal Christmas tree.  After Christmas Jason planted it out in the yard.  And today I took a picture of Jason with that tree and his kids.

Yes, he is hugging the tree.  Hee hee... Kinda reminds me of "The Giving Tree" - I just never knew that Jason had a tree of his own.

After playing in the backyard we wandered to the side yard.  Jason took this view of the house there.  He always talks about this flag pole.  He really wants his own flag pole someday. 

The couple who lives there now have been there for 18 years, and raised their 4 sons and 1 daughter there.  It is really crazy to think that this place is now to another family what it is and was for the Ritz's.  I don't want to say their names for privacy sake, but they are the nicest family!  The Mrs. told us that the Mr. fought in the Vietnam War as a helicopter pilot.  His original helicopter has been restored, and is in the air museum in Napa, Idaho.  Now my kids really want to go and see it.  We go through there at least once a year, so we just might stop.  The Mr. transported this old Vietnam Helicopter to the farm.  He planned on restoring it, but never got around to it.

Now it's for the kids and sheep to play on.  My kids LOVED it!  I overheard Harrison say, "I LOVE dad's old helicopter!!"  It dawned on me that the kids were thinking that this is all exactly how it was 30 years ago when Jason was a kid.  I had to tell them several times, "This was not here when dad lived here." about the toys in the house, and fun things in the yard.

This area was the vegetable garden.  Jason's parents had it divided into plots and each of the six kids were in charge of their own plot. They had to plant it, weed it, harvest it etc.  They all got to choose what to plant, and where to plant it on their plot etc.  I am SO grateful they did this.  Jason knows how to garden, and has taught me so much.  Also, Jason has the most amazing work ethic.  I know it is because of where grew up, and how he was raised.

The current family keeps ponies in the old garden, under the old Gravenstein Apple Trees, that my mother in law canned from every Fall.  Jason has memories of harvesting the apples for his mom to can.

The current Mrs. gave my kids all many carrots to feed to the ponies and the horses in the lower barns.  They were in HEAVEN!

When we went in the house we met the Mr.  We all thanked him for his service in the Vietnam war.  He was very nice to the kids.  The Mrs. brought us to the kitchen, and fed the kids snacks.  My favorite part was the kitchen and dining room.  I've seen SO many pictures of this part of the house.  My favorite picture is of Baby Jason sitting on that counter next to a big Thanksgiving Turkey.

A 10 month old Jason sitting on that same counter with the Turkey.

We had so much fun showing the kids around.  The current Mrs. is a collector.  I had to try to imagine what it was like when Jason's mom was the Mrs.  My children LOVED all the collections and stuff and things that were every where!  My favorite collection was the group of antique rolling pins hanging in the dining room.  Jason liked the old quilt dated to the Civil War that was hanging in his old room.

 We were all tired after our long day. 

After we got home, and settled a bit, we had a family meeting.  It was fun to sit around with the kids, and discuss the day.  It was really wonderful to relax, and hear what all the kids thought of our adventures.  After Harrison and Bennett went to bed we had ice cream with older kids, and reminisced some more with pictures and scrapbooks.  The kids have never been so interested in the pictures before.  Today they were, because they had just been there.  Jason loved sharing this with them.