HAPPY 171ST BIRTHDAY, RELIEF SOCIETY!

I LOVE this wonderful organization for women!

When I was first married and in my early twenties, I went to my first Relief Society meeting, thinking it was an organization for old women. 

 But from that very first meeting, I was hooked!

I discovered that it enriches every sister's life, whatever phase she happens to be in!

This is a photo of Relief Society sisters taken in front of the Logan, Utah, 4th Ward in 1924.

They are celebrating the Cache Valley Centennial.

My two great-grandmothers, Sarah Park and Inga Peterson; my grandmother, Libby Fox Peterson, and my mom, Dorothy Gene Peterson Gabrielsen, are all in the picture.

My mom is the little girl on the far right.

I LOVE this picture and am so grateful it was taken and preserved.

The Relief Society birthday fell on a Sunday, so, to honor the organization, our Sacrament meeting was all about it. The speakers talked about it's importance and all of the sisters were invited to sing in our choir with a special arrangement accompanied on piano and violin of our anthem, "As Sisters In Zion."

We had several of our own sisters up in the choir seats who had never sung in a choir before.  We rehearsed the week before in Relief Society, and there were still some sisters reluctant to sing in our choir.  I recruited before the meeting began, telling them that we were a choir of sisters, not necessarily singers!  And several visiting sisters joined us. They sounded marvelous!

The Spirit was strong and our love for Relief Society was yet again, renewed.

Irish Dreamin'

 Our son, Ryan, and family spent a week "up north," staying with our son, Rick's, family and Emily's brother, Clark's, family.  They skied and skied and had a great time.  On the way back home to Mesa, they came through St. George and stayed with us overnight on March 16, which was St. Patrick's Day Eve - Wahoo!

Ryan has a medical presentation to give in Dublin in May, and Emily and the three oldest kids are going with him.

Perfect chance to celebrate the two events!
(And get them ready for some Irish cuisine!)

I knew Sunday, the real St. Patrick's Day, would be kinda crazy - I had choir rehearsal to conduct and Ryan's family wanted to get off on their long drive right after Sacrament meeting - so I had a St. Patrick's Day dinner waiting for them.

I fixed a big "green" salad with homemade honey mustard dressing. . .

. . . lamb shank Irish stew. . . 

(with mint jelly, of course!)

. . . homemade Irish soda bread . . . 

. . . and Leprechaun Pudding with vanilla custard, pistachio pudding and Oreos.

We loved getting to see them all, even if it was just for a few hours!

Like Great-Grandfather, Like Grandfather, Like Father, Like Son, Like . . .

Scouting has always been a big deal in our family.

It was for my dad.

It was for my husband.

It was for our sons.

It is for my grandson, Josh, and hopefully,

 it is for our other grandsons,
 then, down the road, their sons.

Here is what my dad, Lyman Gabrielsen, Jr., said about scouting in his personal history:

  

Dad goes on to say, "Out of my own scouting love,  learned as a boy, a life-long hobby has developed.  I became interested in bird study when we studied that as a merit badge."

Dad receiving the Outstanding Scoutmaster of the Year Award

Scouts traveling on the school bus to Yellowstone.  Note the different uniforms.

Some of Dad's scouts at Yellowstone

My husband, Roger, tells about his scouting experiences:

Roger's framed photo hung in the Wilson Ward's fourier for years as the ward's first Eagle Scout.

Oops - the paper called him "Glen" Stratford.

Our son, Rick, was a quick learner in the scouting program.  Of course, his dad was eager to work with him and he had a wonderful scoutmaster and mentor, Eldon Baird.

Here are some scanned pages from Rick's scrapbook of his childhood:

His Eagle project was making birdhouses for mountain bluebirds in the wilds.

 Rick was so happy that Grandpa Gabe spoke at his Court of Honor.
My dad was so proud of him!

On Sunday, March 3, our grandson, Eaglet Josh, is about to receive his Eagle.

Josh and fellow Eaglets

The American Legion was on hand to explain the proper ways to handle the American flag 
and to present one to each of the boys.

Each fold is symbolic and represents something important.

Josh with his dad, Rick, Grandpa Roger and Grandpa Bart

Each dad shared some of the qualities that he admired about his son.  

Rick's comments about Josh were very poignant and very heart-felt.

Josh receiving his Eagle pin from his scoutmaster

Josh sharing his appreciation of his scouting mentor

Brand-new Boy Scout Eagle

A slideshow was shown with pics of each boy and his Eagle project.

Josh cleaned out people's garbage cans to earn money to buy supplies to put together hygiene kits for people in Nicaragua.

Smiling new Boy Scout Eagle

The A. L. guys were so cute and you could feel each soldier's patriotism for our country.

Josh had these special fans see him receive this great accomplishment.

When we got back to Josh's house, Roger presented him with this 1902 Morgan silver dollar with an Eagle on the flip side that had been his Grandpa George Stratford's.  It had been passed on down to Roger, and he thought it would be appropriate to pass it down to our oldest Eagle grandson.

Hopefully, he can pass it down to his future Eagle son.

What a great heritage Josh has carried on!
Life-long skills, hobbies, attitudes and mental strength can be acquired in the scouting program. 
These fine scouts are proof of that.
I know my dad was looking down this night,

and we all couldn't be prouder!

Stratford Girls' Retreat Extraordinaire!

Greeting tag on Emily's gift bag to each of us

Hooray, it's finally here!
Roger and I left for Mesa on Wednesday, February 20, for our second Girls' Retreat.  Stacy made cheesy potato soup and Sydney made homemade bread to welcome us, and we stayed for the first time in the beautiful guest room of their gorgeous new home.

Next afternoon, Missy and Jodie arrived at the airport from Boise and Salt Lake at about the same time, then, that evening, Mindy flew in from Houston.

We put together chicken enchiladas, salad, fruit with Jodie's dip and a couple of yummy desserts in Ryan and Emily's beautiful kitchen.

Emily had this welcoming table set to greet us.

Next morning, Stacy got up early and fixed smoothies, blueberry muffins and fruit to get us off to a great start.

Miss Sarah Kate came over to play with her best buddies, Max and Luke, while Roger babysat and the girls headed to Mesa for shopping, pedicures and lunch.

Jodie and Max making friends with Charlie 

Missy and Mindy catching up

Luke and Max

Emily gave us each a gift bag with some of her favorite things.

Stacy, Missy, Jodie, Mindy and I also passed out some of our favorite things that we each brought for everyone.

Roger and I brought this thank you gift to Stacy for hosting us.

Cute cousins playing in Stacy's playroom

Grandpa Roger got some cute mugshots of little Charlie!

The kids having their lunch . . .

. . . and the girls having theirs!

Flancer's is a great little restaurant in Mesa.

We had lunch after shopping in Mesa at FOUND, Design Lab and Blossom.

My girls had a ball trying on lots of clothes and snagging some real finds!

Then it was off to get pedicures!

Stacy was in Hawaii the week before! Holy tan!

After the pedicures, we hurried to Jake and Pete's last, regular season basketball game.

Ryan is their coach and Tom is the assistant coach.  Tom and Jake had to leave at half time to go on their scout winter campout.

Groupie Pics after the game

Wish Jake and Tom had been here for the pics, too!

Then it was dinner at Tia Rosa's, the family favorite in Mesa!  When Jeff asked Mindy where she wanted to go out to dinner for her birthday this year, she said, "Tia Rosa's!' 

 Remember, they live in Houston!  

Back at Stacy's, we all loved just hangin' out together.  

It was fun reliving memories of past get-togethers.

Can't have too many Charlie mugshots!

Max surprised me each night with a gift-wrapped picture he drew for me.

So cute!

Friday night Sydney had a date with Hunter Dance. She said he is in her English class, is really nice and she wants him to cut his hair.  She has dated lots of cute guys, but she was hoping he would ask her to the Junior Prom.

Sydney hugging her best boyfriend!

Next morning, Roger took Ben to his last basketball game. Ryan was with Pete and Emily went to a funeral. She met us in Scottsdale for shopping afterward.

We shopped at Last Chance, Nordstrom Rack and World Market. 

We had delicious avocado pizza for lunch in Arcadia at La Grande Orange, then continued on to the Biltmore shops and Anthropologie.

The men met us for dinner at Vincent's Bistro, a small French restaurant that Emily knew about.  The food was reasonable and very tasty. 

By the way, we kept inviting the men to our girls' retreat because they each took turns picking up the tab!

We had to hurry Jodie to the airport right after we ate - she had to be home for Sunday. 

We hated to see her go!

Sydney was on a date with another guy when a poster and a box of honey buns arrived on the front doorstep. They had gone swimming. We were all so excited for her to get home.  We heard them through the door and Maddy said, "Now everybody just act natural when she comes in." 
 Then the second the door closed, she shouted, "You got asked to Prom!" 

I don't know who was more excited - Maddy or Sydney!

H D - Hunter Dance!

Sunday morning before church, which didn't start until 1:30, Stacy gave Missy and Mindy a tour of the outside yards to explain what was planted and what had been damaged by the extra cold winter.

They lost several lemon trees, hibiscus bushes and other things.

It was chilly and wet and a chance for them to wear their new rubber boots they had gotten at Last Chance the day before.  

Sister boots!

Stacy set the table before we left for church - it looked like something out of a magazine!

We took pics of the girls before we changed out of our church clothes.  Emily and Ryan were at Emily's sister, Liz's, child's baptism.

All three of my girls have on new outfits they found the day before.

We fixed roast salmon, crispy, salt-baked potatoes, roasted cauliflower, steamed asparagus and rolls.

Mindy and Charlie had to catch their flight home at 5:30 - bummer, two more gone!

Missy's flight was an hour and a half late, so she got to Boise about 1 AM! 
One more gone!

Jake was ordained a teacher in the Priesthood at church and Stacy invited Grit and Sherry over for dinner.  It was fun getting to be with them!

Roger, Jake, Tom and Grit

Jake with his grandpas

Father and son

Grandma Sherry and Maddy

On Monday, just Roger and I were left with the Youngs!  We got to watch Londyn and Maddy in their tumbling class - they are both amazing!

That night, Max had another wrapped drawing for me.  They are now decorating my house!

Londyn taught the lesson about Joseph's first vision in Family Home Evening.

She had some great help!
We played, Don't Eat Pete! and I have never heard the twins laugh and giggle so much!
So fun!

We got up and packed Tuesday morning.  Before we left, we watched Luke and Max help their mommy make pizza.  They had watched Cailou make pizza with his mom on tv, and they were so excited to make it!

Lukey shaped his like a dinosaur.

After these pics, they put on pepperoni, and we said goodbye and drove off as they put them in the oven.  

As I said at the beginning, this was a Girls' Retreat Extraordinaire!