Mom's 84th birthday

In the midst of our craziness this month, I decided that we needed to celebrate Doug's mom's 84th birthday with a BANG!!  I called Mom to select a date, which was two days after her actual birthday because it was our only free night that week, invited the siblings and we were able to get 13 of the 14 of us here!

Denise and I left at 8:30 that morning, enjoyed breakfast at Angies, then hit Sam's Club and Lee's for all that we needed and we needed a LOT!  I'd decided that it would be fun to create a charcuterie board for the family to feast and gather around the table for talk and laughs.  Doug's family are all about health and nutrition. I knew that the cost would be pretty high, but for Mom's birthday, it was worth the expense, which we all split.  Denise and I were back home from shopping just after 11 and I finished putting things on the board just before everyone arrived at 6PM.  We had a ball cutting, slicing, rolling and arranging all of the food! So fun!

This was one of the prettiest tables that I've ever set and the best part was, WE ATE IT!

Here is a list of what we had on the board:

7 different types of crackers

7 cheeses - asiago, Gouda, cheddar-jack, pepper jack, mozzarella, Havarti and a rosemary/olive oil Gouda that was rolled in more rosemary (oh my!)

7 meats - a maple turkey, a smoked ham, pepperoni, salami, a pepper-rolled salami, prosciutto and hot suppressata

3 breads - rosemary, asiago and a multigrain bagette

2 bowls filled with mini-cucumbers and slices of red, yellow and orange peppers

green olives stuffed with garlic cloves (I even tried one.  I'll pass next time, but they were a hit!)

dates, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, grapes

homemade from scratch ranch dressing

a gourmet spicy hot mustard (not my favorite thing, but again, a hit with Doug)

marscapone mixed with a sour cherry jelly (oh my!)

dill pickles, cherry tomatoes

cashews, raw almonds,  olive oil marinated almonds, peppered pastachios, candied pecans

strawberry bundt cake with vanilla ice cream

It really was as pretty to look at as it was fun to eat!

No forks allowed.

Grazing is a good word for what we did for two hours.  We ate until our hearts content and talked about everything from gardening (a normal and expected topic) to food to gospel topics (another normal) all evening long, until the table talk questions were pulled out and then we talked memories and favorites and Mom!  (Note, even I drank ice water, so as not to take away from the many flavors on the table!)

Mom is always happiest when surrounded by her children.  All but one son-in-law, who had commitments that he couldn't be excused from, were able to join us.  Norm, as always, expressed his gratitude for Mom and her kids.  He's sure been a gift to our family!

One candle will suffice when you are 84!  With all that we'd eaten, no one expected a cake when Zeej brought it out with the candle lit.  Aleece led us in "Happy Birthday" without a word.

It was a fun evening, filled with love for Mom.  Ironically, the next night, we received a call that Mom had fallen and was being ambulanced to the nearest Idaho hospital.  Doug's sister, Anne, immediately went to the hospital as Mom was being released with a fractured upper arm. We were so relieved that it was not more serious!  Doug's mom is one of the most loving and kind, gentle women that I've ever known.  We are so grateful for her every day!  Personally, I look forward to planning another fun party for her 85th and many more!

april update

Monthly blogging is better than no blogging at all... I guess... I have been super busy Relief Society Presidenting, momming, entertaining, meeting and living!

As always, April is filled with crazy weather in Cache Valley.  This was April 3, when winter finally arrived.    Yesterday was the most beautiful day since last summer. Today, it's snowing. Go figure.

Quayd is working graveyard shift and it's been quite an adjustment for us all. He enjoys that the work is less stressful than day shift but the hours are killer!  Our time together is limited these days.  We gather around our bed every night at 9:38 for prayer and other than that, there are days that we hardly are all four in the same room or even in the house together.  Whenever it's Quayd's turn to pray, he always starts off with "We are thankful that we can spend this time together to pray."  We do usually have a few minutes to catch-up and for a little silliness before Doug says, "Goodnight, Neverland!", which means Lights OUT!

Zulu makes us all laugh...  "What Starburst?"

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Spring break was pretty casual around here.  Quayd worked, Doug worked, so Zeej and I chilled a lot together.  I was busy with visits and Relief Society, but we managed to squeeze in a few lunches, movies and some fun.  The happiest moment for Zeej was when Will came home after a week in Chicago with his family.

The biggest moment of the month for Quayd was when President Dixon Facetimed late one evening.  Quayd was absolutely beyond thrilled when he'd said hi to the Dixons and their boys, then Crystal, his favorite investigator, popped into the screen to announce that she'd just gotten baptized and that Quayd was the first person that she wanted to call and share the news!  It was a pretty awesome moment!  Lots of tears that night!

We celebrated our anniversary with a quiet day together with kids, family, extended family, ward members and friends... not in any celebrative way, just being together.  It was a great day together.  Zeej surprised us late that night while we were watching a DVD with these brownie Sundaes that she'd made from scratch.  Oh my!

Zaylee came over after school one afternoon for dinner and to watch CoCo with Zeej and Quayd.  We ordered pizza and had icecream.  She was in heaven.  She's growing up so much.   Between Quayd working graveyard, Zeej dating Will, Doug and my callings and life, it is very rare that we are all home at once.  This was a great few hours, and they never happen enough!  We are looking forward to a little "grands and fams" gathering this summer!

I made a fun brunch for my "Silver Sisters" in the ward.  There were eleven, plus me for brunch.  I served a delicious ham and spinach strata, banana and lemon poppy seed breads, fresh fruit and grape juice.  It was heavenly!  But, the company was even better.  We had table talk questions that brought wonderful stories of these lovely ladies' childhood, raising their families, their husbands and so many great experiences that they shared.  I am so blessed to be able to enjoy their time.

There are days that I literally find myself in tears that I am getting to know and love them in their final years on the earth, when I wish so much that I could have known their amazing husbands and watched them parent and be friends and neighbors when they were in the prime of their lives.  My friendship and getting to know them better is a bonus to my experience as a Relief Society President.  This Silver Sisters group is not a Relief Society gathering.  It's something that I've chosen to do on my own and will continue to do after I am released.  When you hear the saying "Old friends are best friends", it has a different meaning to me.  These wiser friends are just a gift in my life! I am already planning our next get together!

Two huge happenings this past few weeks....

First and foremost, we were able to witness an historical General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  President Russell M. Nelson was sustained as the Prophet and President of our Church, along with Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring, as his counselors.  I will write more about this in another post.

Second, my Relief Society Presidency was changed.  Because of Julie's cancer and health issues, I've been praying since December about what to do that would be best for her.  I wanted her to continue but I also didn't want her secretary duties to cause her to feel overwhelmed or guilty because we wanted her focus to be on her health.  The bishop and I have talked about this over and over for months.  I have prayed and prayed about who to call to serve as a new secretary.  BUT, truth be told, I didn't want a new secretary, I wanted Julie.  In the meantime, my counselors and I have done what needed to be done, along with my assistant secretary, Jenn, who did most of the computer tasks.  Gayle had picked up most of the slack with her amazing gift for detail.  This was a difficult decision.

March was very hard on Julie's body.  She was in the hospital for weeks.  It was the awful, and frightening. I knew... that it was time... and I hated it.  Oddly enough, over all these months, as I have prayed about it and went down my list of 132 sisters, over and over and over again, I could never come up with a name.  I'd decide on someone, pray about it, go to sleep and literally couldn't even remember who it was that I'd considered the night before.  This went on for weeks and weeks.

Finally, in the beginning of April, I went to visit a sister in the ward to get to know her a bit and that Sunday, she was substitute teaching in Relief Society.  While Rachel was standing there teaching, I had the strongest impression, "Sophia, you haven't been able to come up with the name for a new secretary because you already know who your secretary is: it's Gayle.  It's a counselor that you need and she is standing there teaching right now."

I prayed about it again, called the Bishop that same day.  My presidency was released the next Sunday.  McKell, my old second counselor is now my first counselor, Rachel was called as my second counselor and Gayle is now serving as my secretary with Jenn as my assistant secretary.  We are a great team.  Julie's new treatments have helped her gain some strength back and she is now taking nightly walks and able to eat and have more strength than she has had in months.  The Lord truly does hear and answer prayers.

Other happenings in April...

• Doug lost another cousin a week after the first.  A young mother of three beautiful young children, including a baby.  Cancer claimed her life and we were devastated for her husband and children.
• I have been able to complete over 120 one on one visits with sisters in our ward. A few were lunch dates and other meetings, but most were in their homes. I have loved getting to know these sisters better immensely.  I am blessed to serve them! We are losing thirteen families because of USU graduation and the many married students that are assigned to our ward from USU Housing.  In August, we will get new families, who, if they are half the caliber that these wonderful families have been, we will be in good shape! 
• Grace went to Arizona to spend a week with Liza.  Her wedding is in the works for June.  We are not really in the loop of it all, but she seems to be happy from what we hear.  No comment.
• I have worn capris and flip-flops, snow boots, my rain coat, sweaters, sweatshirt, flannel jammies, short sleeves, long sleeves, hoodies, and my winter coat this month.  CRAZY.
• We hosted our final YSA family home evening dinner for this USU school year.  Following the dinner and message, several stuck around and we watched Greatest Showman.  Buddy surprised me and downloaded it onto VUDU two weeks before it was released in DVD!  Fun night, singing along with the kids! Tonight is the final YSA activity for the year and things will calm down a bit for Doug until mid-August again.  He still loves serving in the YSA!
• We hosted a birthday dinner for Doug's mom... next post...
• Spring Break
• Third Sunday of every month... 7AM meeting for Doug, 9AM meeting for me, three different three hour blocks of church for Quayd, Doug and myself with Zee, a fast dinner, Doug and I teach the YSA Marriage class to the soon to be newlyweds and then the Bishops fireside for Zeej.  That's our crazy Sunday each month, but also our favorite!

Life is good...never a dull moment, no time to slow down but very, very good.

41 years

Doug and I spent a mellow anniversary in the middle of spring break.  He took the day off and we didn't do anything special or huge to celebrate.

Doug's sweet cousin, Michelle, lost her husband at the beginning of the week.  They were celebrating spring break, hiking near St. George, when he literally just dropped over dead, without any sign or warning.  He was only 51 years old.  It was heartbreaking.  His funeral was on the morning of our anniversary, so Doug and I drove to Idaho for the funeral, early that morning.  The viewing line was 90 minutes long.  It hit me hard, that they were ending their earth-life together on the day that Doug and I were celebrating 41 years together.  I cherish every moment with Doug, even the few short ones on the phone each day when he calls during his breaks, and pray morning, noon and night that we will have many more years together in this life.

We came back to Logan and went to Cafe Sabor for shrimp enchiladas, which are a favorite there.  The rain has slowed down, so we ate outside on the enclosed patio, which is where we always sit, even in the dead of winter.  It was a long, relaxing late lunch/early dinner, then I felt like I needed to check in on one of the widows in our ward, so we did and had a lovely visit.  We planned to come home and watch a movie, but our Bishop and his wife dropped by so we visited with them for a long time, which brought lots of good stories and laughs.  After they left, we watched the movie, with Quayd, while Zeej was on a date with Will.

Doug even offered to hottub very late, but we had early morning meetings and decided to pass.  Totally a casual day, with lots of friends and family and fun, not at all a romantic anniversary, but perfect for us.  We spent the day together and that was all that mattered to either of us.

I literally can not express how deeply I love this man, who puts up with me and my clean freak, germaphobic moods, with my Diet Coke and eating out habits, with my constant gabbing even when he needs his sleep, with all of my weaknesses.  He's the perfect man for me.  I found this old photo of us a few weeks ago.  This was our first date.  I love the fact that we grow stronger and stronger every day.  Forty-one years is a long time to be by each other's side and I can't wait for the rest of eternity together.  He's my better half.  Truly.  No brag, just fact.