Father's Day and Jessie's birthday

It was fun to be with my dad and grandpa on Father's Day, a rarity for sure. (Marc was bringing the kids home on the red-eye flight. Not a good Father's Day for him, but we had a do-over later.)

Most of the day was spent going through Grandpa's house, since he has moved to Texas to live with my Uncle Lee and Aunt Linda, but we did have a nice dinner together.

As with Charlotte's bouquet, we took Emily's to put on Grandma's grave. It was a lovely family outing.

The fathers in our group: Mark, Lee, Grandpa, Dad

I couldn't believe how many headstones have been added since the last time I visited the cemetery.

I just love this picture of Grandpa's hand on her headstone.

Later, we opened gifts. I can't remember what provoked this laughter, but I'm guessing it was Lee or Jessie.

The next day was Jessie's birthday. Again, much of the day was sorting and packing at Grandpa's house.

Jessie had a hankering for a fountain drink (Coke Zero), so Dad took us on a pilgrimage to find one. Anything for the birthday girl!

I made her favorite birthday cake: Grandma's chocolate cake with White Mountain frosting.

Actually, I made the cake, and Mom made the frosting, since I find it to be rather temperamental, and I wanted it to turn out just right!

Lee & Linda took us all out to Senor Burritos for dinner. It's a must-visit whenever we go to Denver.

Dad orders in Spanish, of course. 

Jessie with her former dog, Moosey. I think she regrets giving her to Denise in a pregnancy-induced inability to have a dog.

Denise said the cake was as good as Grandma's! So the combined efforts of me and my mom are as good as Grandma's. Maybe someday I'll do as well as she did all on my own.

The next day, we did some shopping and then I flew home (my first time flying into Provo!). I loved my visit to Denver, as usual. It's so fun to hang out with my family and to just be a daughter and niece and  sister and cousin for a few days. Jessie and I agreed that being roommates and hanging out just as sisters is a rare and wonderful treat.

Denver -- the food

One thing my family likes to do is cook. And bake. And when we're all together, cooking is even more fun. We had a lot of good food while I was there:

Mom's birthday dinner consisted of glazed salmon, brown rice, asparagus, Chinese cabbage salad, and Grandma's popovers.

Her birthday cake was a yellow cake with lemon filling and White Mountain frosting. I contend that people that don't like cake have never had good cake. We're a from-scratch cake family, and I loooooove cake. (I didn't even get a picture of Denise's cake, which was German chocolate, also my traditional birthday cake.)

One night we went to Senor Burritos, a family favorite.

Mom and Denise and I all had the smothered shredded beef/bean burrito. Delish.

Grandma and Grandpa had the single enchilada. Is that what it takes to weigh 114 pounds? (for real)

One day I made Hannah's miracle bread, so they could all see how unbelievably fast and easy it is. It wasn't my best batch (it was a little dry), but they were all impressed nonetheless.

Grandma had the brilliant idea of buying a Rubbermaid container (with cute green handles, no less!) and storing a 25-pound bag of bread flour from Costco in it. She and Denise each have one and keep them in the garage, filling their indoor canisters as needed. Also, they now only buy bread flour. I'm totally doing this.

Denise made this delicious pasta dish (from Weight Watchers), along with homemade breadsticks. I loved the pasta and I know my family is going to go crazy for the breadsticks.

Grandma and I made this incredible rosemary artisanal bread from a recipe my aunt Linda sent us. It's one of those that you stir together, no kneading required, and then it rises for 12-18 hours. It bakes in a cast iron dutch oven and is just as good as any bread I've ever had in France.
Now I have to buy a cast iron dutch oven!

I just had to take a picture of my grandma's measuring cups. I love the rounded shape of these KitchenAid cups and I have a set of orange ones. But the aqua, green and brown line-up just makes me happy.

This is by no means inclusive. On my last night there, Grandma cooked pork chops, baked sweet potatoes, broccoli, bread, and berry cobbler, despite being sick. What the?

I'll be posting the bread, breadsticks, and pasta recipes on my recipe blog, as well as a new one that Grandma gave me for Triple Caramel Cake!

A common sight: Uncle Mark doing the dishes. Good man.

Oh, and here's something cool: I found out that Grandma has a weekly appointment with some young friends from her ward -- they come to her house and she teaches them how to bake something new! Isn't that brilliant? They get to learn from her prodigious baking talents and enjoy her company, and she gets to benefit from the friendship of young women! I think I shall mention it to my R.S. president...

Denver -- part 2

We woke up on Sunday morning and Mom & Dad were preparing to go to the airport. We discovered that Grandma had had a terrible night, even wondering if she needed to go to the E.R. (She confided in my later that she thought perhaps her appointed time had come!) Thankfully, this was not the case. We suspected she might have pneumonia. She rested all day Sunday and I took her to the doctor on Monday.

She needed to be convinced, as she doesn't have a lot of faith in doctors. I feel somewhat the same way, but we all thought we should rule out pneumonia -- not a good thing for an elderly woman to suffer through, especially untreated! Typically, she was a good sport, joking with the doctor and letting me take pictures.

He didn't think it was pneumonia, but he gave her a Z-pack to be on the safe side. Grandma didn't know it, but I informed her that she had been given the Cadillac of antibiotics. We're always wishing we would get that prescription! We went to get her prescriptions and then home to rest. Apparently, Grandma doesn't just lounge around when she's sick, but still gets dressed (even shoes), makes her bed, and gets things done. Huh. I always look my worst and try to do as little as possible...

We went through my GoodReads lists and made a list of books she can look for at the library. She listens to audiobooks now, since her macular degeneration has made reading impossible. She is sometimes at a loss as to what to books to order from the library, so now she has a whole bunch that should keep her busy for awhile. Grandma has been my primary book recommender for as long as I can remember, so I was happy to be able to return the favor.

I went over to Denise's at night. One night we watched a movie, and when it looked like a sex scene was coming up, my 15-year-old cousin John said, "I think they might have a moment of weakness." We were dying of laughter, and teased him about that for the next few days, much to his delight, I'm sure.

John is incredibly tall now. We took a picture of the two of us together, for demonstration purposes, but John's face was creepily blurry so I can't post that one. Here is a side-by-side comparison of our feet, however. He wears a size 13!

One night we played Denise's new game, Bananagrams, which evidently is very like Jill's Speed Scrabble game. The tiles are very pleasing to the touch.

I was terrible at first, but started to catch on. I think I'll have to buy that game, I can see Max really getting into it, as we like to play Boggle together.

Mark joined the game, and we totally cracked up when we discovered he had made the word "loverboy!" He was a good sport about our teasing.


One night we played Guitar Hero and watched American Idol. Here Denise is playing bass and rocking out. I love the expression on Sarah's face -- I can't tell if she's disturbed or just shocked by her mother!

When Jessie told me her dog Moosey was the best dog in the world, I had my doubts. I used to be a dog lover, but Jack changed all that. Then Denise's family inherited Moosey when Jessie decided she had enough people/animals to care for, and they all adore that dog as well. I had never met her, and I was curious to see if she could win me over.

The verdict is in: it didn't take me long to realize that she is indeed the cutest/best dog in the world! Man, I wish we had gotten a small, mixed-breed dog...

I'm in love with her!

This one, not so much. (Sorry, Tyrone.)

This is a glimpse of Grandma & Grandpa's little downstairs guest suite. It is very cozy down there and was a great place to relax and read.

Grandpa is sweet to pose for self-portraits, even though I'm sure he's wondering why we don't just get someone else to take the picture...

Grandma was very accomodating and posed for a self-portrait with me before I went to the airport, even though she wasn't feeling well and didn't have her hair and makeup done.

Denise took me to the airport. I hated to say goodbye, hated to see this fun trip end. It was so much fun and wonderful to be free of responsibility for a few days. I can't remember the last time I was able to just hang out with my grandparents and talk for hours, or help them with little things that are difficult for them -- probably it was before I became a mother -- and it felt like a precious opportunity. I love my Denver family!

Denver -- part 1

I have no idea what this paper proclaims the best of Denver to be -- I just thought it was a funny picture. For me, the best of Denver is just hanging out with my family. We never actually go downtown!

I arrived on my mom's birthday, and she was hard at work (with my dad and Denise) transforming Denise's powder room -- this was her birthday gift to Denise. Of course, the project blossomed (as these things tend to do with my mom) and grew from a small-ish paint/window treatment kind of job to an entire makeover.

They repainted, with beautiful two-tone stripes; Denise made a silk valance; Dad tore out the old sink and vanity and replaced it with a new one; they painted over the linoleum floor (!); Dad framed and hung six botanical prints that he had previously photographed; they got a new light fixture and a new medicine cabinet; and then Mom accessorized. (Seriously, who paints in cute clothes and accessories, and in full hair and makeup??)

We are all in love with the new sink/vanity. (Home Depot!)

I couldn't get a shot of the whole room, but trust me when I tell you that it is gorgeous. Denise said she just wants to sit in there and gaze around.

The work crew.
Leave it to my parents to work their heads off the whole time they are on "vacation," or as Emily calls it, a "family reunion!"

We did get a little shopping in.

I love this picture of Grandma clasping her hands in the car. It's a Petersen thing.

She may be 82, but she still gets stopped in stores so that young women can ask her where she got her shoes!

This was the damage from just one store! Man, I love Hobby Lobby.

(post-shopping self-portrait)

We realized the night before my parents had to leave that we hadn't taken any self-portraits, so we had to rectify the situation, even though it was indoors at night, with bad lighting. I love that I don't have to talk them into it! Now that we have multiple bloggers in the family, we're all eager to document.

Speaking of blogging, a friend of Denise's stopped by one evening. I opened the door and said, "Oh, you must be April! I recognize you from your profile pic on Denise's comments!" It turns out she reads my blog, so we felt like we already kind of knew each other. Also, when we went to church, I met darling Miranda, who recently left me a comment saying that we need to be blog friends. (They happen to be Grandma's Wednesday baking friends.) I love blogging!

mom & denise

mom & me

dad & me

mom, denise and me

I was sad that I only got to overlap with my parents for two days, but happy for the time we did have together. And very happy that I still got to stay for 3 1/2 more days!

harking back

Jill called me on my cell phone this morning just to make sure I was really and truly in Denver and that all was well. Oops! I've been so busy having fun that I didn't even check my email until tonight...

I did make my 6:30 a.m. flight on Friday. It was slightly delayed so the airline could make sure that planes were landing here, but we made it. I was disappointed that I missed Denise's birthday on Thursday, but delighted that I could still go on my trip and that I didn't miss my mom's birthday.

(I'm having a wonderful time just being Michelle, not being the mother for a few days. But, as you can see, I'm still blogging at 11:45 p.m., so I guess some things never change.)

So, harking back... two of my favorite women in the world celebrated birthdays last week:

1. Denise

Denise is my aunt, but she is only 8 years older than me. We moved to Denver when I was 4 and lived here until I was 12, and I can remember her making little tea parties for me (real ones! with real food and drink!), dressing me up for family home evening lessons, letting me read her Nancy Drew books, taking me swimming with her and her boyfriend.

She wrote me letters when she was away at BYU, including a card telling me about her engagement with a little drawing of her ring. I felt so special when I got that card! When I turned 16, she sent me a funny package of dating items, including candles and dating ideas and red fuzzy dice for my rearview mirror.

When I was at BYU myself, she was in town with baby Emily and came to visit me in my first apartment (where I was roommates with Jill). She took us grocery shopping because I didn't have a car and Jill was sharing hers with Adam. Everything is fun with Denise, even grocery shopping!

She was the matron of honor at my wedding.

I can't remember a time when I didn't look up to Denise. She is beautiful. She is talented. She has a beautiful singing voice. She studied fashion design and is truly a wizard with fabric -- she sews clothing for herself and her children that you would think were from a fine clothier and she is the costume designer for her former high school's drama productions:


She is hilarious and has the most infectious laugh. She is extremely capable. She is modest. Best of all, she has a deep testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and has always been a fine example of obedience and righteous living.

2. My mother

My mother is the most stylish person I know -- she has impeccable taste. She is also the most generous person I know. Anyone who knows me knows that most anything I have that is cute or covetous was given to me by my mother.

My mother is the hardest working person I know. She is always working, and she loves her work. When she takes a rare day off, she works at home. When she goes on "vacation", she still works, just a different kind of work. When she visited me for Christmas, she cooked and wrapped and helped my dad to transform my entryway. During her trip to Denver this time, she did an extreme makeover on one of Denise's bathrooms. Jill asked me recently if my mom ever wants to just sit and relax. I'm sure she wants to sometimes, she just rarely ever does!

{she never ever wears sensible shoes...}

I got to be here for her 60th birthday dinner. The tradition is to go around the table and have everyone say what they love about the birthday honoree. I only wish I had taken notes so I could reproduce what everyone said about Mom! Instead, I'll have to rely on my pitiful memory:

My uncle Mark (Denise's husband) said that he really appreciated Mom's friendship with Denise and the way she has been a support to his dear wife over the years. He said he was honored to be her brother-in-law. (How many people ever hear that?)

My cousin Sarah said that she loved Mom's cute clothes and jewelry and the fun things she sends in the mail.

Denise expressed gratitude for Mom's friendship, example, and emotional and spiritual support (I know I am forgetting a lot here.)

Grandma appreciated that, even with all of Mom's prodigious talents and abilities, she is remarkably devoid of ego. She shares her ideas and manages to remain humble, even though she receives praise and accolades and admiration from all.

My cousin John said that he loves the way she smells (Angel perfume). (She does always smell divine and somehow manages to look cute and have her hair fixed and makeup perfectly applied and wear cute jewelry, even when she is painting a room or moving. Shannon once asked me if Mom ever just put on a baseball cap and went out. The answer is no. I don't know that she even goes out to check the mail without lipstick on...)

My dad said that she is a classy lady, but that she is not a princess. She doesn't expect to be taken care of. She does what she needs to do and she has real grit underneath her refined exterior.

Grandpa said that she has been a special addition to the family since her birth, and that she never gave them cause to worry about her (said, in true Grandpa fashion, with tears in his eyes and a quivering chin). How many people have never given their parents cause to worry??

I said that I have always admired Mom's autodidacticism. She didn't get a design degree. She didn't study business. She just taught herself what she needed to know. She magnified her talents in a big way. I have also long been grateful that Mom shares her testimony with me. When I was growing up, she prayed for me and with me. She shared her experiences with following the promptings of the Spirit and taught me that the Lord loves us each individually and will help us with even the most seemingly trivial and mundane aspects of our lives.

The birthday honoree then must tell something they like about themselves. Mom said that she is confident, that she knows she can do whatever she needs to do. I loved this and found it to be a real gift.

I was so grateful that I could be here to celebrate these two amazing women who have had such a great influence on my life. I can't even believe I am related to them. Happy birthday, Mom and Denise!