Happy Grandparents Day 2009 to all of our readers who are grandparents.

And for you readers who are privileged to have your grandparents still here, welcome to our blog. We hope you will find inspiration and ideas to show your grandparents just how much you cherish them; how much they mean to you. We encourage you to help your grandparents learn about technology and the Internet so they will feel comfortable and excited to use these tools to communicate and connect with their family. See our other posts, including “How to help grandparents get online“.

About National Grandparents Day…

Grandparents Day is a United States secular holiday, celebrated on the first Sunday after Labor Day. Marian H. McQuade is recognized as the founder Grandparents Day, and the first national Grandparent’s Day was celebrated in 1978. See Wikipedia and Grandparents-Day.com.

A fun cartoon a friend drew for me…

Thanks Marvin!

Some favorite grandparent quotes…

It is as grandmothers that our mothers come into the fullness of their grace. ~Christopher Morley

Grandchildren are God’s way of compensating us for growing old. ~Mary H. Waldrip

Grandchildren: the only people who can get more out of you than the IRS. ~Gene Perret

Some of our favorite books for Grandparents

Free certificates to print for your special Grandma or Grandpa

We hope you’ve enjoyed this Grandparents Day tribute to grandparents. As always, we welcome your comments. How do you plan to celebrate Grandparents Day?

- Grandpa Shayne

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Grammy Tanda wrote a mother’s day post about the lessons she has learned from her Grandmothers. And I’ve been thinking about the lessons I’ve learned from my two Grandfathers and from reading about the lives of my other ancestors.

I was fortunate to know both of my grandfathers when I was young. They were an important part of my life. They both lived in the same city where I grew up. Over the years, I have grown to admire and appreciate both of these wonderful men.

They were true pioneers, born and raised in the late 1800′s. They were men of integrity. Hard work was their friend. They built houses, planted orchards and gardens and flowers. They hauled freight with horses and wagons. My Grandpa Packer was also a rancher and a farmer. My Grandpa Webb owned a saw mill. He also made hundreds of thousands of bricks by hand.

Both of my grandfathers raised large families. They were good providers. They were religious men who taught their children honorable character traits, reinforced through their own examples.

In their older years, family gatherings and family reunions were very important to my grandfathers.

You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was. ~Abraham Lincoln

I love being a grandpa myself. I follow in the traditions of my grandfathers, my father and father-in-law in having a fun time with the grandkids. They loved being funny, giving “horsy” rides on their knee, and back rides too.

I also love to play musical instruments with the grandkids, especially percussion instruments. We read lots of stories. We make up stories with the grandkids as the main characters. We tell funny jokes. A sense of humor is an essential requirement for grandfathers.

What are some of the valuable lessons you have learned from your grandfather? What do you admire and love about him? We look forward to reading your comments.

Wishing a Happy Father’s Day to each of our readers, fathers, and grandfathers.

- Grandpa Shayne

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Loving mothers and grandmothers give of themselves unselfishly. However, in the back of their minds they may sometimes wonder, “Have I taught them enough? Do they know this or that?” Sometimes on a discouraging day they may think, “Oh, I haven’t really made any impact on the world. I’m just a mom. I’m just a grandma.”

All I really need to know I learned from my Grandmother. ~Charles E. Smoot

One of the favorite gifts I have received from my adult children took me be surprise. The gift was a journal titled “Lessons I Have Learned.” They pointed out the kind of impact I had had upon them. They had filled in the first few pages — each of them writing about lessons they had learned from me that have been valuable to them — with the idea that I would finish filling in the journal with lessons I’ve learned. You know, preserving some of that hard earned wisdom we adults are always claiming we have.

Even though of my own grandmother died when I was young, I remember visiting her. I remember feeling her love for me. She always made me feel accepted for who I was and made me feel welcome and wanted in her home.

This year, I encourage you to take a few moments and write down some of those gems of wisdom you have learned from your grandmother. If she is still alive, you will surprise and delight her. Or share them with the special people in your life: your grandchildren, children, or parents.

By sharing the lessons that you have learned from your grandmother, you will not only validate her, but you’ll also let her know of ways she has helped you that she may never have realized. This can be a more personal and touching gift than a dozen roses or another knickknack.

What are some of the valuable lessons you have learned from your grandmother? We look forward to reading your comments.

Wishing a happy Mother’s Day to each of our dear readers, mothers, and grandmothers.

- Grammy Tanda

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Happy Valentine’s Day. This valentine was given to my Grandma Hilda Webb from my Grandpa Clark Webb in 1902. Feel free to click on it an save or print it. Email or send it to your grandma, grandpa, grandchild, or whomever you want.

What is it about grandparents that is so lovely? I’d like to say that grandparents are God’s gifts to children. And if they can but see, hear and feel what these people have to give, they can mature at a fast rate. ~Bill Cosby

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. ~Theodore Hesburgh

Enjoy Valentines Day! – Grandpa Shayne

Photo by Paul W

Up until about a century ago, when people left their country to settle in a new land, they would likely never see their families, parents, or grandparents again. The difficulty of distances were too great. Letters would often take months to arrive. Traveling home would have taken days or months, and was usually to too costly.

Today, with the blessings of modern technology, grandparents can keep in touch with their grandchildren easily.

Telephones, internet, mobile phones, smart phones, instant messaging, video phones, smart phones, video chats, VoIP, email, text-messaging, personal and family blogs and websites, photo sharing sites, other resourceful websites. We can fly across the country in the space of a few hours, and usually for less than the cost of driving.

We have technology, finally, that for the first time in human history allows people to really maintain rich connections with much larger numbers of people.  ~Pierre Omidyar

So, at the beginning of this new year, we wish to express gratitude for the blessing grandparents have of staying connected with family though technology. May you love and enjoy your grandchildren.

We want to wish our readers a healthy, prosperous new year. We are grateful for the opportunity we have of associating with you.

- Shayne and Tanda Packer

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