Day 26: Whirlwind Weekend

It was a whirlwind weekend for me! It all started Friday night with an end-of-summer-back-to-school party with our YSA ward. I love our ward and am so grateful to be a part of it!

YSA

Family

On Saturday we were up earlier than usual and headed to Pineview to celebrate Jeremy's birthday. Not only did Jeremy provide all of the entertainment for us (boats, jet skis) he fixed us all lunch. He served all of us on his special day.

My boy and his boy... Andy and James.

The birthday boy and his family... Jeremy, Mason, Emily and Tanner.

Kristin and her boys and Jeremy and his boys.

Andy and Mike.

Caitlin and her friend Sarah on the boat with Jeremy.

Friends

After a full day at the lake we rushed home to attend a wedding. Our friends daughter was married in the Salt Lake Temple earlier in the day, they were having a ring ceremony and Mike was asked to officiate. We arrived home barely 45 minutes before the ceremony. I don't think we've ever gotten ready so fast in our lives. It was a beautiful ceremony and Mike did a great job. People all around me were flashing pictures so I thought "what the heck" and took this picture with my phone.

Extended Family

For many years we celebrated Mike's Grandma's birthday "family reunion" style. Although Grandma has been gone nearly eight years, on Sunday evening we celebrated her 100th birthday with many of her posterity.

Aunt Beverly, Aunt Judy and Bonnie (my mother-in-law).

I haven't seem Mike's cousin Lani since Grandma's funeral. She has always had long, long blond hair. Earlier in the day I wondered if Lani still had long hair. I was surprised to see that Lani didn't have any hair. She was diagnosed with a rare and incurable cancer in March, but because they caught it so soon (major miracle) she has had chemo and her prognosis is good.

The whirlwind didn't end with the weekend... but I've got to save some things to finish up my 31 days.

Day 22: Happy Happy Birthday Mother Dear

When I started my 31 day challenge I created a list of things that I could blog about. I didn't have ideas for more than half of the days, but today is one that I did have... because it's my Mother's birthday.

When I was a little girl, each year when my Mother's birthday came around we would ask her how old she was, the answer was always the same "twenty-one." It was several years before I actually found out my Mother's real age. I remember learning from her that you don't ask adults... especially women; how old they are.

My Mother is one of my greatest examples. She loves and cares about me, as she does all of her family. She does not complain or murmer about anything. In the last couple of years she has experienced some serious health issues. She faces her trials head on and with faith in the Lord. Even through these experiences she keeps her sense of humor and can make jokes. She is a rock; a pillar of strength and an example to all who know her.

My Mother is still a "Mom" to me. Even though I am a Mom and a Grandma, I am still her baby girl. She encourages me, and praises me, and she always listens to me (I'm sure that is hard sometimes). She never reprimands me or lectures me... she always makes me feel as though my opinions are valid.

My parents are still very self-sufficient and take good care of each other, and they are still capable of taking care of us. They support pretty much everything family members invite them to. They are there cheering for us whatever it is we may be doing. They were at family night at Cherry Hill this week just to be with us, even though neither one of them went down cardiac canyon *smiley face*.

I sat down at my computer recently with my (just turned) two-year-old granddaughter sitting on my lap. We were watching a slide show of pictures and she was enjoying pointing at "mommy" and "daddy"... when a picture of my Mother came across the screen Jane pointed and said, "G'ma Marden". I was so surprised, and also impressed, that a little two-year-old knew and recognized by name her Great-Grandma. I was excited to tell Mother about it and she was so pleased.

I love my Mother. She is the best. I'm grateful that I was sent to her. Happy, happy birthday Mother!!!!

Day 7: Fulfilling a Promise

Last week family and friends gathered at little Jane's home to celebrate her second birthday with a party. Of course opening the gifts is always the best part, and we all gathered round to watch. You wonder what a two-year-old is thinking as all eyes are on her while she opens package after package filled with wonderful new toys. One package particularly delighted her... which brought delight to the rest of us. One family had added a package of m&m's to their gift. Jane was so excited; and, after finding the m&m's nothing else seemed to matter. She obediently opened each gift and said thank-you, but after, she immediately looked through the wrapping paper, gift bags and tissue paper for the bag of "emmy-ems" that had been briefly discarded as she opened the new gift. Each time she found them she was so happy it made everyone laugh.

I promised a family member some time ago that I would share an un-birthday story on my blog... so today I'm fulfilling that promise. When I was in my early teenage years... my Auntie Marjie and her family lived within a couple of miles of our family. I have mentioned previously on my blog that we didn't grow up with a lot of family living close by, so it was a lot of fun for us when these cousins moved nearby and we spent a lot of time with their family. Like all kids do, we looked forward to our birthdays. Whenever me or my siblings had a birthday our Auntie Marjie brought us a gift. That was a big deal to us because we usually only received gifts from our parents. Auntie Marjie's gifts were always well planned and selected for the person they were intended for, we always knew that she had especially thought of us for our special day. But the best part was this... Auntie Marjie also brought un-birthday gifts. This was a special treat for each of the un-birthday kids in the family. It wasn't a present like the present the birthday kid got, it was usually a little bag of goodies and maybe an inexpensive little trinket... but WE.LOVED.IT!!!  And with six kids in our family we got to LOVE.IT six times a year. I will never forget the thoughtfulness of my Aunt; we knew she loved and cared about each one of us, and we loved her. Just like sweet Jane, who was so thrilled with her "emmy em's"; sometimes it's just the simplest of things that makes us happy... especially, if it's just being thought about and remembered. 

Does anybody have a similar tradition? Or other special birthday traditions?

Auntie Marjie at David's first birthday

WHAT.A.WEEK!!!!!!

Why is it that some weeks just meander on by with the daily routines and other weeks are filled to over-flowing with stuff!!?! I sometimes wish that the days and weeks could just "average" out. This past week has been a whirlwind for me. Here's my list:

Weekend- Caitlin came home for the week for her spring break.

Monday morning- I was up at 5 am to take Mike to his surgery appointment. I waited there with him for 3 hours before they took him to surgery. It made me wonder why I had to get up at 5 am. I didn't get home until about 1:00 pm.

Monday afternoon/evening- Caitlin wanted a quilt for her birthday (17th). I bought the fabrics before she came home for break and was just starting the project Monday afternoon. The picture below is of the 10 fabrics chosen for her quilt. All afternoon and evening was spent cutting this fabric into 80 squares (and I couldn't find my rotary cutter) and sewing them randomly back together. AM I CRAZY!?! Don't answer that.


Tuesday- The original plan was to take Tuesday off work and spend the day with Caitlin at Gardner Village. I really needed the time to work on the quilt, so... we spent a couple of hours at the Gateway instead. By the time evening came I had finished sewing the entire quilt top. Whew!!!

Wednesday- I went to work and I was glad to be there. I wanted to come home and forget about the quilt until Thursday. The house needed some attention and it was Andy's birthday. So I went to Andy and Kristin's for a party. I can't believe my firstborn is 34 years old!!!

Thursday- I had to be in Salt Lake at 8 am to pick up Mike. He had undergone foot surgery as part of a study. Now he was all bandaged up and in a boot. Poor guy (I haven't heard one complaint from him the entire week... seriously). My plan was to spend the day caring for him, and I think I did, but... I was running from store to store trying to find backing and batting for the quilt. So while he reclused (without complaint) I continued work on the quilt Thursday night. I did one of my favorite quilt tricks (to get the job done faster). I laid the top and bottom pieces of the quilt on the floor, right sides together, then I put the batting on the very top. I pinned it all together taking care to match and then trim everything perfectly (I am an Apollonian you know), and then I sewed it all together leaving about a 12 inch opening to turn it all right-side-out. Hence, the edges of the quilt are all finished before it is even tied. After tying it all you do is slip-stitch to close the 12 inch opening. And it is done!

Friday- Back at work (I never thought of work as a rest from my labors before). I rushed home after work because my mom (who had a small window of opportunity) was coming over to help me put the quilt on the frames. Shortly after my mom left, my niece Rebecca came over to spend the evening with us. I had the quilt tied and off the frames by 6:45, and then me and Becca went to the store to buy birthday supplies for Caitlin (balloons, breakfast food, ice cream and candles). When we got home we made Caitlin's cake. After Becca left, I slip-stitched the 12 inch opening. At which point Caitlin came home, and at 12:01 am I said, "happy birthday" and gave her the finished quilt. She loves it!!!


Saturday- Happy Birthday Caitlin!!! St. Patrick's Day. I made Caitlin one of her favorite breakfasts. Had family over at noon for cake and ice-cream. Took Caitlin to Five Alls for dinner. The house is a wreak (by my standard). Went to bed way late... as I had done every night this week (thanks daylight savings time... no LOL here).




Sunday morning- 12:45 am this morning awakened to the noise, and I mean noise, of five smoke alarms going off. Running from alarm to alarm to figure out which one started it cause that's the only one that will end it. The smoke alarms were going off every ten minutes for well over an hour, in fact, the longer it took us to solve the problem, the alarms went off more frequently. We finally solved (temporarily) the issue. My poor hubby with his surgeried, booted foot had to climb a ladder (still not a negative murmur from him) to spray the detectors with canned air and replace the batteries. I replaced some as well. It was such a commotion. We were finally in bed about 2:30.

Sunday afternoon- I went to church where I had a difficult time keeping my eyes open. But sacrament meeting was so good. I taught a Sunday School lesson and then enjoyed a wonderful relief society lesson. Church was very uplifting for me today. Much of what was taught... was just what I needed to hear.

Sunday evening- Decided to document my week on my blog. I didn't even do a classics and favorites this week... too busy. Now I'm going to sit with my booted hubby and then catch up on some of your blog posts that I've missed. Unfortunately the tone of this post sounds a bit "murmur-ish", but all really is well. Tomorrow is the beginning of a new week... and the calender is looking pretty good until Thursday. I think I'll have time to wash the dishes. Maybe.

My Take On The Cake, or... Food For Thought?

Between a previous post and the statuses that my mother, sister and niece posted on their facebook pages, there were several comments/opinions about my dads birthday cake. So I decided to share my "take on the cake".

I work with customers five days a week. It is important to keep the customer happy. I think we do a pretty good job of it. We have a menu at the deli where a customer can literally design their own sandwich. All they have to do is fill it out and we make it for them. Of all the delicious choices that are on our menu, once in a while someone puts an X in the box for bread, meat and cheese... and that's it. When that happens we call the customer by name ('cause it's on the paper as well... or it should be) and say, "you only marked meat and cheese, do you want any mayo? mustard? veggies?" Almost every time they say, "ooohh yeah... I forgot. I do want some tomatoes, lettuce..." you get the idea. Case in point. Just today my co-worker showed me a customers sandwich order. The customer had picked his bread, meat and cheese and then X'd only sprouts in the toppings category; that was okay, except, in the column next to the list he wrote the words... load me up, I love veggies. Okay. We are not mind readers, did he mean load him up with... sprouts? It turns out he wanted all the veggies, he just didn't X them on the paper. On the other hand, sometimes when we question people they get a little rude and may say something like, "if I had wanted that I would have marked it." My policy is this... it's always best to ask.

So, this brings me to my dad's cake. If you read my previous post you know the story... and it is a funny one; I'm still giggling (out loud) when I think of it. But the fact is that somebody made a mistake. I think there are several people responsible here:

1. The person who took the order. After finally getting the correct spelling established, this person should have started over on a brand new order form and filled it out without any flaws. Instead, the order was put in as written, which included the mistakes.

2. The person who decorated the cake. At some point that person should have questioned the validity of what was written on the paper. I've ordered many cakes at this bakery and every time they have asked for my phone number. Why didn't the decorator call and double check?

3. The person who handed the cake to my mom and took her money. I understand that employees don't always know what to do in certain situations... so ask someone. Certainly there is always a manager on hand to answer.

4. And speaking of the manager... I feel it is important that the manager know what happened here. Because I can guarantee it's going to happen again; and it might happen to one of you.

I love this bakery. I will go there again. My mom will go there again. So will a lot of you. I understand that "accidents happen", I just don't think a consumer should have to pay for "accidents" like this. In this case I think: we should have had our cake (for free) and eaten it too!

Seriously; my parents are the best of the best. Dad at 75, just as silly as ever and mom can still throw a great party!

Can You Have Your Cake... And Eat It Too?

You must promise to read this post first... then scroll down to see the picture.

Yesterday was my Dad's 75th birthday. Mother called the bakery at her favorite grocery store and ordered Dad a birthday cake (she and Dad have ordered cakes at this store for years). She didn't want an assortment of colored roses on the cake; just white roses... for Yorkshire where Dad was born. She told the girl at the bakery that she wanted the cake to say "Happy Birthday Granpa". Notice how we spell "Granpa" without the D. The girl was a little confused so Mother spelled it for her G-R-A-N-P-A. The girl thought Mother said M instead of N. "No" said Mother, "it's N as in Nancy." But the girl didn't understand Nancy, so Mother told her, "N as in north." She understood north.

When Mother went to pick up the cake yesterday this is what she got (you may now scroll down and look at the picture):







When I first saw the cake at Dad's birthday party last night, I wasn't sure what to think of it, and for a brief moment I thought Mother had ordered it that way on purpose. Then Mother told the family the story of how Dad's birthday cake came to be. We all had a very good laugh over it. Mother told us that her reaction when she picked up the cake at the bakery was, "it's a good thing we are a family with a sense of humor."

Michael, who has been in the retail business FOR-E-VER... told us that 99 out of 100 people would not have had Mother's generous reaction. So... I'm curious, what would you have done? What do you think of this story? Please, please tell!

Happy, Happy JULIO!!!

It's JULIO!!! My birthday!! That seems like the perfect excuse to post this picture that my niece Megan took in Britain last year. Happy birthday to all of my birthday buddies too!!!

Birthday Buddies

For our family 4th Sunday dinner in March we celebrated "The Birthdays". Here are the birthday buddies: Zach, Andy, Adam, Caitlin, Michael and Tanner.

Sweet Tanner loves his baby cousin James (and he didn't let his balloon get too far from his grasp either; as you can see in both photos).

March Madness

I know that to most everyone "March Madness" means basketball, but to me it has an entirely different meaning; multitudes of birthdays in my family... and all within 18 days!!


On March 14 my oldest son Andy celebrated his birthday. This year he got to spend the day in a place he loves... DISNEYLAND!!! Andy is a wonderful son and I love him.


On March 17 Caitlin celebrated her 18th birthday!! She loves her birthday every year. This year her dad and I took her to a special place... the Five Alls restaurant. I love my Rosie (and I love Five Alls).


Today, March 24, my oldest grandson Adam is 9-years-old. I can't believe how fast the time has gone (and I can't believe I've been a grandma for 9 years). I love Adam, he is such a good boy.


Also today, March 24, my grandson Tanner is having his first birthday. He is such a precious baby boy. I love cute Tanner. He makes me smile.


On March 30 my grandson Zachary will be 7-years-old. Just look at that smile. Zach is such a big helper to me, I love our cute Zach.


And last but not least is my Mikee, whose birthday is March 31. He will be older than me for 3 1/2 months!! I love Mikee (and I love being on that beach with him) and look forward to a fun date night with him on his special day.

And BTW... I LOVE April!!

Birthday Buddies

We have been blessed with three new grand babies in the past 5 1/2 months. Our newest grandson James, was born just two nights ago. Each of these beautiful babies was born on a family members birthday. What are the odds? In fact, half of my grandchildren (we now have eight) share birthdays with each other!

Here I am celebrating my birthday in July with Zachary, Mason, Tanner, Avery, William, and Adam. Adam and Tanner share a birthday, and William and Avery share a birthday.

Jane Ashleigh was born on her Great-Grandpa Leger's birthday in August.

James was born on September 12, which is also my brother Alan's birthday.

We have a few more duplicate birthdays in our extended family. My niece Alyssa and I share a birthday, Alyssa's mom JuLee and my son Jeff share a birthday, and my Mother-in-law and nephew JJ share a birthday. Aren't there 365 days in a year? Plenty to go around. Do any of you have duplicate birthdays in your family?

Birthday Surprises

My friend Tiffany loves birthdays, they are a big event at her house; in fact... Tiffany even celebrates half birthdays. When someone in her family has a half birthday they get a half a cake, a few little gifts, and I think they sing half of the birthday song... you get the idea. A year ago when Tiffany was expecting her last baby and was due near the end of March, one of her biggest concerns was that the baby didn't come on March 31... why? because there is no September 31 so when would the half birthday be? Thank goodness little Drew arrived on March 30.

Caitlin also loves her birthday, and today is an extra special birthday... because Caitlin is 17 on the 17th. I decided that I really had to step it up (just a bit) and make this a special day for Caitlin. I've never made much of a fuss over St. Patrick's Day (I was born in Ireland for heaven sake), but Caitlin loves her birthday on St. Patrick's Day!! I thought to myself, "what would Tiffany do? She's fabulous at birthdays." I will mention here that Tiffany was Caitlin's Ma on pioneer trek, and so when it comes to birthdays... like "Ma" like "daughter".

I made an attempt at decorating a St. Patrick's table. I knew Caitlin would love that. And she did. I visited Kathryn and Melissa's craft blog and found this cute birthday banner which I actually made (so fun and easy).

And finally, I thought that if I decorated the house with balloons certainly Caitlin will love that. So I followed through with all of my plans and was quite pleased with myself and my efforts.

But I knew everything wasn't perfect. Tonight Caitlin has two choir concerts, one right after the other at her school. When is there time to have the family over for cake and ice-cream? What about her birthday dinner? How do you tell someone who loves her birthday so much that we'll celebrate with the family at our regular 4th Sunday dinner? And... you will share the celebration with your dad, your brother, and your two nephews (she loves them all, but let's face it... she wants her own celebration).

Last night I was at the grocery store and I saw Tiffany. She asked about plans for Caitlin's birthday and I explained to her about all of the complications.

Tiffany inspired me with a wonderful idea... invite Caitlin's brothers over for an early morning breakfast. Caitlin loves her brothers. What a great idea. Could they all come? Would it work? Well it did. I heard her exclamation of delight when she saw her balloons, she liked her birthday banner... but the surprise and joy of seeing all of her brothers there to share breakfast with her was the best.

Thanks Tiffany for such a great idea, thanks Andy, Jeff, and Jeremy for getting up extra early and making your sister's birthday extra, extra special.

We ate at 6:30 am; all of the boys got up early (Jeff came from Layton) and who is the one yawning at the table? The one that just came from upstairs.

Jeffrey, Andy, Caitlin Rose, and Jeremy; these are the best brothers in the whole world.

Do any of you have special birthday memories? Does everyone love their birthdays? I do !!!

Happy Birthday Jeffrey!!!

Happy, happy 30th birthday to my son Jeffrey. Your Mom loves you son. XOXOX
If you have a Jeff story we'd love to hear about it.

Happy Birthday Jeremy!!!

Today is Jeremy's 26th birthday!!! I can't believe my baby boy is 26!!! Have a wonderful day Son. Mommy loves you,
XOXOX
If you have a Jeremy story or a memory please share.

It's Almost JULIO!!!

This post is an update of a couple of things going on in my life that I've posted about but haven't....well, updated.

First of all my aneurysm. I did go to see a Doctor who I found to be much more informative than the Doctor that I saw last year. He actually told me exactly where my aneurysm is located and I was surprised, it wasn't anywhere near where I thought it was. I had my testing done the week after I returned from the beach and I just got my results a few days ago. My aneurysm is un-changed. I consider that to be the best news. Remember, the previous Doctor told me that it would never go away, so I'd rather it stayed the same than get bigger.

Our house has been for sale for just over 3 months now. June was a slow month, we only showed the house 3 times. It seems things are picking up with July, last week we showed it 3 times. Michael, Jeremy, and I went to see the house we want to buy. It is completely finished and ready to move into. We made an offer contingent on the sale of our home and expect to hear if it was accepted next week. Here are a few pictures of the house.

The smaller garage (windows facing the front of the house) will be Michael's music studio, the door leading into the house is in there. The bigger garage is where the cars will go, of course. The window above the garage will be Caitlin's room.

I love the kitchen; there is a lot of cabinet space and lots of drawers. The entire center island is big, deep drawers. Notice the 5 little drawers underneath the cabinet next to the stove. What would you put in those?

Hiding in the corner of the kitchen is a walk-in pantry.

This is a view from the family room, if you follow along the side of the stairs you will reach the front door and the living room. On the other side of the wall where you see the door (I think my yellow hutch will fit perfectly next to that door) is a hallway that leads to the laundry room, bathroom, and the smaller of the garages.

A view from the front door towards the back of the house; immediately to the left of where the photo is being taken is the living room.

A view from the living room towards the entryway.

Another view of the family room and kitchen, I love the transom window. There are mini blinds between the panes of glass in the french doors.

Michael and Jeremy in the family room.

This is one of Michael's favorite spots in the house; "come in!" From where the photo is being taken you can turn to the right to go to the master bedroom, and if you turn to the left it leads to the other 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, and the upstairs laundry room.

The sinks in the master bath; if you look in the mirror you can see the reflection of the tub.

This is the master bedroom. The door on the right leads to the upstairs hallway, the other door leads into the master bath. I've never had a master bath, in fact I've never lived in a house that has more than 1 bath/shower combination in it.

Another view of the master bedroom.

A closet in one of the bedrooms.

A view of the upstairs laundry room; the door to the right leads into Caitlin's room (hopefully).

I guess that was more than a few pictures, it was more like a tour. I've been wanting to post pictures, but I've hesitated because I could be setting myself up for let down. I really do want this home....but I will be okay if I don't get it (after my meltdown of course). We still feel very positive. We just need the family that needs our house to find it. As JULIO approaches, my birthday wish would be for some good news, like a contract....or two.