Balle & Co.: The Nielsen House Lodge

We cashed in my moms birthday gift-

A night's stay at her grandparents, Carl & Agnes Nielsen's, house in Ferron, Utah

(It's an airbnb now)

The grass isn't as green and the snow residue isn't very pretty, but we had a really memorable time

Kate and Brady

Inside the front door- small family room to the left

and dining room to the left

up the stairs you find a room with two single beds and through that doorway...

is a darling little loft room

Back down stairs on the left side of the house is where my great grandma's bedroom was. We called her, "little grandma." In years past if anyone in the family asked me if I remembered "little grandma's" house I could picture a kitchen and a bedroom, but wasn't sure if my memory was correct. It was really neat to be in the house and realize that, yes, I can remember standing in this doorway, looking at her in bed where that purple couch is and eating mints out of a bowl on a little table next to the bed.

in her bedroom they've since added a spiral staircase

and this little room

here's the kitchen I remember standing in. I think by the time I came around, little grandma was bedridden. My grandparents lived just up the hill from her so when we were visiting them we got to help bring meals to her.

My mom showed us some pictures and told us a little family history.

Things I've heard over the years about my Grandpa Ivan's life were cleared up a bit.

He had 3 brothers and one sister.

*Sister Helen died from an illness when she was 5

*Brother Harry was a dentist in Ferron. He was an alcoholic and ended up dying at 55 from cirrhosis of the liver.

That's his house next door in the back ground.

*Brother Ted and my grandpa started a farm on my grandpa's property in Clawson (neighboring town). Ted was married and had one little boy and a baby girl on the way. One day something spooked a horse and a bull and they collided with Ted in between them and it killed him. His wife delivered their baby girl within the next couple of weeks and they named her Tedanne.

*Brother Eric came home from the war not too long after and felt the responsibility to take care of his brothers wife. He married her. He was also a drinker and a smoker. One day the Stake President called him in and asked him to be the Bishop. He never picked up another drink or cigarette again.

That left my grandpa Ivan the only living sibling.

My grandpa Ivan married my grandma LaVer. They had 4 daughters, Helen, Ronda, my mom Susan and Becca (in the picture). They first lived in Clawson and with Ted they built this farm. My mom said it looked exactly the way it did when she was a little girl. I've always known my grandpa as a farmer and even thougth I wasn't alive for this phase of his life, it felt familiar. I just had to stare long enough and I could see him bustling around in his suspenders and black irrigation boots.

They lived here until my mom was about 11

and then they moved to Ferron, up the street from little grandma's house.

I didn't get a picture of the house. I wish we could have gone inside it. I only remember an upstairs room with a closet full of dress up's and I remember the bowl of fake fruit on the kitchen table. But this is his farm in Ferron