The last few years have really made me miss them around the holidays. I wish Ty could have met them. Grandpa Dean had a huge heart and always sat with me at the counter cracking pine nuts when we would visit. I would eat them as fast as he could crack them open. Grandma would spend all day in the kitchen baking and bustling. I remember as a kid just trying to stay out of the way. My brother and I would usually go play in the garage which was the size of a pretty big barn and completely filled- floor to ceiling- with old stuff. Rolls of carpet, bull horns, sharp, rusted metal. It was a kids playland and a parent's worst nightmare. I can even remember a few times that our parents would come calling for us and we would just hide. They probably would never have found us if we hadn't popped out from wherever we were.
We spent a lot of holidays with my Grandma and Grandpa Dean because they lived so close to us, and I'll always remember the love and warmth that filled their home at Christmas.
