Daily Grit by Wes Thorp

Learning about Curious George over Face Time from my two-year-old grandson in Bosnia

It's hard to believe that one small app from the Apple App Store could bring such great joy to two baby-boomer grandparents in mid-Michigans who have a grandson in Bosnia and living on the edge of the Alps.

Using the app is simple and almost instant as we saw our two-year-old grandson showing off a fresh buzz cut.  He was able to pick up his Curious George book and point to his favorit pages and we could see and interact.  It was great.  It works.  Here's a pic from our conversation.

 

Apple's Face Time is a real gift to baby-boomer grandparents 

Getting ready for our granddaughter to be born in Bosnia very soon

We are excited about our pre-born granddaughter who's expected to make her entry into this world either later this month or early November.  Super-wife loves shopping for our grandson Xavier, but has a special twinkle in her eye when he shops for little girl stuff.

Our daughter Krista and her husband Adam live and work in Bosnia.  My cellphone will never be far from my pocket when we leave home and it will have a full-charge.

When we were at Sam's Club this week, I bought my grandson a big full-color book with nothing but truck pictures.  There's all kinds of big trucks.  His two-year-old eyes really lit up every time he saw a big truck when we visted them last spring.

My daughter Krista and my son-in-law Adam

Xavier's ready for his new sister

Getting ready for the Food Network's Chopped, air in my Honda Civic Tires and tendonitis of the shoulder

 

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While cleaning off my computer desktop, I ran into these pictures one of which made me smile, two made me quizzical and one made me sore.

One is of my grandson in Bosnia  who tries his hand at playing with rice, mixing it, transferring it from bowl to bowl and just having fun.  His dad likes to cook and he's good at it.  Might my grandson be a Food Netowrk star in the making?

The second two are from my checking the air pressure of the tires today on my Honda Civic.  The door panel says both front and back should have 32 psi.  All four had 26 when I checked.  What's that all about?  At a gas station just down the road, it cost a buck to fill all four tires.  How often do you check your tires?

The last one was of the sign of the Physical Therapy office I went to yesterday where the therapist is trying to ease the pain in one shoulder because of tendonitis.  For the past couple weeks the Extra Strength Tylenol bottle has joined my inner circle of friends.

A GRANDPA BRAG: My eleven-month-old grandson can really heave a ball

My grandson has started what I bet is a lifelong love affair with balls of all types.  Now it's a light toy ball, but how long before it's a basketball, soccer ball, baseball, golfball.  He can heave it. 

 

Letter to my Grandson Xavier--#4

April 11, 2011

Dear Xavier,

It's Sunday morning and I'm waiting for Grandma Thorp to get out of the shower so I can start getting ready for church.  I just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed spending some extended time with you and your parents at your home in North Carolina.

We loved it all.  Looking through the pictures from our little Olympus digital camera and my Flip video camera, I see all the great times.  You are part of a great family and they all love you very much.  Grandma and I loved getting to know your dad's parents, your Grandma and Grandpa Jones.  They are great people and we are happy that you have a chance to get to know and spend time with them.

As I write this, I know that you will be leaving for church too where your dad will be delivering a message about hope that comes through knowing Jesus Christ.  We saw him deliver the message last week at another church.  His message was clear and it was strong.

Grandma Thorp and I pray everyday that you get to know Jesus in a very personal and face-to-face way and that he become the number one relationship in your life.

She and I grew up going to church.  She grew up at Immanuel Lutheran in DesPlaines, Illinois and I grew up at Immanuel Lutheran in Bay City, Michigan. 

It was there that we learned more about Jesus and God the Father and the Holy Spirit. 

The world is pretty quirky and can get crazy.  But the answers and the hope lie in your relationship with Jesus.  As you get older, ask your Dad and Mom about Jesus and what he means to them.

You and I will get more chances to talk about this.  When you and your folks are in Bosnia and when you're probably walking, we can cruise around town talking about this and everything else.

I love you and I'm proud of you.

You are a winner.

Grandpa Thorp

A Grandpa Brag: Spending time with nine-month old Xavier during an Indy visit

He's nine months old and he's a real charmer.  We spent the weekend in Indy with our grandson Xavier, along with his mom and dad and his uncle and almost-aunt.  So how's he doing?  He's big-time cute and a real charmer and a joy to spend time with.  Thank-you God for my family. Here are a few pictures.

 

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VIDEO: My six month old grandson likes watching Morning Joe on his new MacBook

My grandson is only six months old and he's getting a good foundation in the basics.  Check out this video of him watching Morning Joe where lively discussion about political topics is featured everyday and where respect is always the guiding force.  And check his computer (his dad's), a MacBook.  This kid is being trained right. 

Reading a book to my five-month-old grandson Xavier

It's the Sunday morning after Thanksgiving and our daughter, son-in-law and our grandson Xavier will be heading home right after lunch.  They will be moving to North Carolina with a stop in Indy. 

We celebrated an early Christmas with them on Friday night and one of the gifts we gave our grandson Xavier was a book--That's Where God Is--by Dan and Ali Morrow.  It's a great little book for a grandchild and it's built around a grandpa talking to his grandson about where God is.

For the next week after that cozy chair conversation, the grandson finds God in all types of places and then on the next visit with his grandpa, he reports back.

Because of distance, I won't be able to read it to him in person very often.  So my son-in-law Adam, his father, did a video of me reading it to him.  That way I can read it to him through the video whenever his mom or dad click on it. 

By the way, it's a great book.  I'd highly recommend it as a gift for your grandchild.