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!

Merry Christmas to Us!

Roger's and my Christmas present to each other in 2012 and our Christmas present from our kids was to get a new kitchen faucet and a disposal put in the second, larger sink of our side by side sinks.

After much looking and thinking, thinking and looking, 

tadaaa . . .

we chose this faucet!

Stacy and Tom have one like it, except in the shiny chrome, in their new home. 

While we were visiting in February, 

we fell in love - well, as much as one can fall in love with a metal object.

We had it all installed last Monday, just in time for our Heritage Dinner, which I'll be telling about later, and for Rick, Jod and family's visit this week.

Amazing how simple pleasures become more and more appreciated, the older we get!