Rick and Jodie's Family - Down South and . . . . . . . . . Up North

For Rick and Jodie's kids' Spring Break, the whole family came to St. George to spend a few days with us and have fun in the sun.  

They swam, bicycled, hiked, golfed, shopped and ate.

We LOVE them to come!

Jodie fixed us "personalized" omelets one morning - Roger's favorite!

Blake says, "Bring on the food!"

We ate lots of yummy meals together - shrimp and asparagus lemon linguini, taco salad, grilled salmon, crockpot lasagna and Jodie made breakfast and lunches including homemade muffins and we had a must for every Jodie visit, Grandma Tobler's potato salad!

We didn't take many pics, but let this one suffice to say that they hand a lot of hang out time and fun in the St. George sun - a great break from the cold spring up north!

So now skip to four days later, to North Salt Lake at Rick and Jodie's home.

Rick and Jod went on Jodie's Fantasy Trip to see the tulips in the spring in Keukenhof, in Holland. She LOVES flowers and she, Rick and the kids do all of their own yard work, and it rivals Temple Square in beauty! 

Roger and I drove north to tend their kids while they were gone.

Here is part of the schedule for their five kids:

Thursday, April 11

Wake up kids at 6:45 for scripture study. Eat and get ready for school. Kids pick out clothes and lay out the night before.
A. leaves for school around 7:45 and gets home at 3:15ish.  I have arranged for someone to drive her every day.
The kids need lunches for school.  The 2 little girls need help making a lunch.
K. leaves at 8:15 and gets home around 3:45.
S. leaves at 7:40 and gets home around 5.
The kids need to practice piano every day either before or after school.
A. needs help correcting her math each day after school.
A. has tennis and someone will come get her at 5:20ish. 
S. has tennis lessons at 6:30.  Someone will pick her up.

 And so it went each day of the week with piano and tennis lessons, choir practice, Spanish Fair, early morning birthday kidnappings, etc. 

Sunday's schedule gave us a chuckle:

Katie will sit on the stand as she is going into Young Women and needs to be there early.
Roger needs to sit in for the bishop (Rick is the bishop).
Pam is teaching Relief Society!  Good luck! Church starts at 1:00 but Roger needs to be there at 6:30 a.m. for Stake training.

I cut off the last day, Friday, for the babysitter 
who came to be there until Rick and Jod got home on Saturday. 
Whew!  It was a crazy schedule, but the kids were GREAT!

Mr. Blake is an absolute whiz on the "fry pad," and he couldn't wait until he earned time on it every day. He navigated from song to song and learning game to learning game, but I must mention that he gets seriously stuck on, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. . . "!

I love the comfy little position he gets in for his serious work on the "fry pad"!

He also loves books . . 

. . . and his mom's iPhone, which she had left home.

Blake also dances up a storm with the other kids and we got great video of it, plus of him ready, set, going into Grandpa's arms, over and over, which I forget how to post it on my blog.

During the week, I cooked my brains out, including baked halibut, cheesy chicken spaghetti, Oriental chicken salad, cheesy pesto bread and crunchy chicken bites, Southern pulled pork sandwiches, Norwegian pickled cucumbers and biscuit beef tostadas.  On the last night, we had a left-over smorgasbord and I told them we were going on a culinary trip around the world -  Scandinavia, China, Italy, the Deep South, USA and Mexico!

Her family celebrated Katie's birthday the night before they left, but on her actual birthday, her best friends came and got her for breakfast before school before 7:30 a.m.  Saturday morning, her Young Women leaders and class came to get her early- for another breakfast!

Grandma and Grandpa gave her this Juicy shirt.

Pretty girls ready for school

His siblings adore Blakey - and vice versa!

It's hard to beat the gorgeous sunsets over the Wasatch Mountains! 

Roger captures such gorgeous scenic pics - he's a pro!

We drove home Friday, April 19, then left for Hawaii the next day!

Stay tuned for some more gorgeous sunset pics in Hawaii!

Green Valley 8th Branch Relief Society Birthday Celebration, 2013

We celebrated our Relief Society birthday a little late this year.  The R. S. b-day is March 17 and we had our party on April 2.

   The past two years, we have had a fun auction of sisters' homemade items, talents, etc. and Bob Brady was our auctioneer.

Bob and Mary are in Malaysia serving a mission.  

How could we have that party without Bob?

Our Relief Society theme for this year is How to Become an 8 Cow Grandmother.

Jackie Fullmer, who also brought us the auction idea, wrote a birthday celebration program that had us 60 years and older sisters singing and dancing up a storm!

You might recognize Jackie from a commercial airing now about getting immunizations for whooping cough; she's the grandma ringing the doorbell!

She taught at USU when I was a student there 100 years ago.  I actually had a volley ball class from her.  And she started the Aggiettes, who were the best drill team around!  She's been Miss Utah, etc. etc. and has worked in performance her whole life.

She brings lots of energy and fun to our branch.  She lost her husband a few months ago, so she needed a diversion from her grieving, and she threw her heart and soul into this program!

Twelve of us sisters each represented our birthday month of the year for the program. We each came up with our costume representing our month. My birthday is right on Valentine's Day, so I had this shirt, then I wore every piece of heart jewelry I have received over the years!  I found the "ears" at a party shop.

After the welcome, we marched in singing,  Twelve months, and then you start back over, twelve months, shout and give a cheer; Twelve months, and then you start back over; Twelve months are in a year.

Jackie had us doing dance squares around each other, figure eights, boogie, boogie, boogie, boogie, and bopping to the beat while we sang the song.

We practiced for three weeks, and we would come home from two hour rehearsals, tired, then, oh so sore the next day! Jackie's philosophy is age is all in your mind!

After singing the song featuring each month, Jackie led us, with all of the sisters, in a cheer for each of our birthday months.

We then posted each of our signs to our month's table and taught the sisters at our table a rap about our birthday month.

February, shortest - month of the year;

Valentine's Day, when you say, "I love you, Dear;"

With President Lincoln and Washing -ton;

February birthdays - We're the bomb.com!

While we were teaching our tables the raps, Jackie and Marilee Flagler changed clothes . . .

. . . and Marilee rapped the rhythm into the mike with her mouth . .   .

. . . and Jackie beat the rhythm on a drum.

"I love you, Dear."

Taking our final bows

After we had a delicious potato bar luncheon, there was one last surprise song and dance number highlighting our cow theme for the year.

These cows were so hilarious, we had them perform it again!

What a thoroughly silly, but thoroughly fun time we had with each other!

We created memories together that none of us will forget!

Gabrielsen Heritage Dinner, 2013

A Gathering to Honor Our Ancestors and A Great Excuse to Get Together

Three years ago, we had our first Heritage Dinner at our home in St. George. 

Joan's coming for her annual trek to St. George for Spring Break this year to stay with Kay 

prompted plans for another one. 

 Patty and Hal and Cindy and John said, "We're on," so plans were made!

Tuesday, Kay and Joan picked me up and we went to the Santa Clara Town Hall and Museum, then went shopping in a couple of the cute stores.

Wednesday, Kay's Keynotes sang at a couple of assisted living centers, and John, Cindy and I met Shonna, Caleb, Lily, and Joan to cheer them on.  They sounded beautiful, but, then, what's new?

They always sound so good!

We then went to Mad Pita Express for a yummy lunch and happy, We're so tickled to be together again! conversation.

Roger golfed with John that afternoon at St. George Golf Club and Cindy and I talked, catching up and revisiting the past. 

That evening, we drove to Los Lupes in Mesquite for a yummy Mexican meal.

Thursday, we went for a springtime walk to the waterfalls in Santa Maria neighborhood, Roger went to work, John went golfing with Tom, and Cindy and I talked some more. 

How I love this beautiful, classy, witty, smart and deeply-layered sister-in-law. 

We decided years ago to drop the in-law part.

Cindy is our sister, in the truest sense of the word!

Friday morning, Patty and Hal arrived at our home at 10:02 AM. They had said they would be here at 10, and John yelled out to them as they were walking up, "Where have you been?"

The men, Roger, Hal, John, Ken and Tom, golfed in the Gabrielsen Open at Sunbrook, vying for the coveted Duck Trophy. Ken and Tom tied, so I'm not sure who gets to keep the Duck for a year.

While they golfed, the women worked like maniacs to prepare the Scandinavian meal. Patty prepared Swedish meatballs and Swedish orange cake at her home and brought them with her.  Patty, Cindy and I set the tables, decorating them with family pictures and family heirlooms.  We pulled out and washed all of the serving pieces for the evening meal, using collected serving trays, bowls, ramekins, our decorated drink dispenser, a covered cheese server we bought in London so many years ago and a soup tureen I purchased many years ago in Williamsburg. It's so fun to use treasured dish ware; each piece brings back happy memories.

Grandma Libby Fox Peterson as a young pretty thing

 Patty brought little booklets that had been with Grandma's things and we put them in the pewter Viking ship Roger and I brought home from Bergen, Norway.

We ate a quick lunch of chicken pasta salad I had made for when John and Cindy arrived, then prepared the Norwegian pickled cucumbers and the makings for the shrimp and avocado open-faced sandwiches.

We took a quick break about 3 in the afternoon to go to The Nook, a cute boutique, then hurried back to get the potatoes peeled and gravy for the meatballs made, the punch mixed and the sandwiches made.

Shrimp and avocado open-faced sandwiches on rye bread with horseradish cream sauce

This Norwegian pickled cucumber recipe is to die for!

For appetizers, we had pickled herring in sour cream sauce and Danish bleu cheese and crackers along with the open-faced sandwiches.

Kay had made wonderful labels, identifying each food item.

Joan brought over the fresh salmon, all ready for Roger to put on the grill.

Kay made the most delicious fresh asparagus in brown butter and nutmeg sauce.

Patty's Swedish meatballs were a hit!  She made a wonderful sour cream gravy and we had lignonberry preserves on the side.

We had oodles of buttered mashed potatoes.

Lignonberry Grog was a sweet and tart accompaniment.

Kay made delicious homemade rolls, which we had with butter, fresh raspberry jam or Swedish orange marmalade.

A Scandinavian feast on a plate!

Whitney and a friend drove up for Easter at Kay and Ken's, arriving just in time for dinner.

Plates are pretty much empty by the time we take pics!

Patty's Swedish orange cake

I have no idea how it happened, but there is no pic of Kay's and Shonna's butter cookies, 

which were a huge hit!

Joan's Swedish rice cream pudding with berry sauce

We played a Getting to Know You - Better! Game after dinner. 

 I think we learned some new things about each other.

Sister Pics

We managed to talk about some of our ancestors throughout the evening, and I think we all feel proud

and so very grateful for our hard-working, faithful and good ancestors.

We have truly inherited fine lineage!

Roger and I spent a quiet Easter together.
Our branch had 952 in the Sacrament meeting congregation!  Joyce Webb had asked me to substitute leading the music, and it was really kind of a thrill singing Easter songs praising Christ with so many voices.  My heart swelled with gratitude for our Savior!