Pipes of Pam: February 2013

I share my birthday month with several people important in my life - my mom, my dad, a sister-in-law, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, a grandson, an old friend.

They are people I love.

Mom's birthday is February 5th and Dad's is February 18.

They were married on Dad's birthday in 1944.

This pic was taken when they lived in Hawaii, a year before my brother, John, was born.

This was taken a little later down the road.

My lovely daughter-in-law, Emily's, birthday is February 9th.

Emily has run marathons and many other races, and she brings many abilities and much love to our family.

We drove up north February 7th so we could help surprise Chyrrl, Roger's sister, on her 70th birthday.

Her family arranged a surprise dinner at Maddox. 61 people sang Happy Birthday as she came into the room.

She thought she was just going to dinner with her husband, Glynn, and her son, Brad, who they had just picked up at the airport. He said he was coming to Ogden "to get his teeth worked on."

We stayed with Grandma for three nights and loved just visiting with her and hangin' out. We went to church and had a delicious dinner with Rick and Jodie on Sunday, then stayed overnight with them. On Monday, we met Karleen for lunch at Market Street Grill.

ipad Whiz, Blakey

Our best little buddy

Okay, back to Chyrrl's birthday party!

I am in good company with Lois and her oldest daughter.

Sherie, me, Chyrrl and Shellie (Susie was on a Disney Cruise with her kids)

Chyrrl with some of her grandkids

Chyrrl with her daughters, Sheila and Stephanie

All of Chyrrl's kids and spouses were there except Nathan and Hollie, who moved to North Dakota in December.

We have been friends with Jane and Dan Madsen since college days. We have exchanged Christmas cards since our early marriages. Jane and I taught at South Cache Junior High School, carpooling to Hyrum each morning together. We both lived at the USU Student Apartments. Madsens lived in Price for many years, then Dan moved his medical practice to St. George.

Jane's birthday is February 13 and she always remembers me on my birthday. Three years ago, we started going to dinner together to celebrate both birthdays, so on the 13th, we met at Player's Grill.

On the morning of the 14th, off Roger and I went to Las Vegas to celebrate my birthday and Valentine's Day.

I got to pick where to have a light lunch, so we shared a bento box at a Japanese restaurant next to Anthropologie in the Forum Shops Mall, Sushi Roku. We will be going back there!

All day long I received calls from my kids, their spouses and grandkids (best part of every birthday!).

My Valentine treat from Roger was to get to pick out each chocolate in a box at Jean Philippe's - not an easy job!

Then, for dinner we had reservations at, Todd's, a wonderful, nondescript-looking restaurant in a strip mall in Henderson. We were told about it by another chef, and the food is amazing!

We shared their Valentine's Day Special. And it was as good as it looks!

They brought this complimentary"Todd-amisu" to me.

We shared this to-die-for blackberry apple cobbler with homemade cinnamon ice cream, Todd's specialty. It elevates the humble cobbler to gourmet level!

This is my gift from Roger and my kids, a Jay Strongwater trinket tray. Roger gave me the matching frame two years ago.

I think it is so beautiful - a work of art!

To conclude dinner, the waitress brought me this long-stemmed red rose.

We stayed overnight at South Point, drove to Primm and shopped the next day, then were able to get "day of" tickets to Donny and Marie. Their show was very entertaining - voted best show in Vegas, and it is clean and the dress is modest for Las Vegas!

On February 18th, my dad's birthday, our precious youngest child, Mindy, was born.

She is our Adventure Queen!

In this pic, she has just completed a triathlon.