On December 21, the Utah Chapter of the Savillian Clan gathered for our annual Christmas Party/December Birthday Party. It was the day before Julie's 60th, so we made her hide in her room so that we could throw her a "surprise party". We decorated the room with balloons and and a banner. Then we let her come out.
Boy was she surprised!
After the surprise, we had a fabulous feast of ham and funeral potatoes. And Lea's amazing pear salad. And rolls. And probably other things.
Oh, and we had some bubbly:
Non-alcoholic, of course.
Then, we took Julie downstairs for the REAL surprise: Lea had orchestrated a HUGE heart-attack. She contacted as many of Julie's friends and family as she could and had them all send in a story or note, and then I helped by printing them on hearts. The boys helped hang them on the walls downstairs. It was a sweet surprise.
It was hard thinking of just one little story of my amazing mother-in-law. She said it was the best (and only acceptable) surprise for her 60th. Later, I put them in a scrapbook album for her so she can look back and read all the nice notes Lea collected.
After Julie read all her hearts, we went upstairs and opened presents. Rachel got her first Nana-made pillowcase. She loved it!
Michael got REAL legos, not just Duplos.
Rachel also got this cute red-headed doll. She loves it! Here she is making Papa give it kisses.
Michael also got "The Book With No Pictures." He loved having Nana read it, and it was instantly a favorite.
I was spoiled with another star-ish quilt in some of my favorite colors:
We all got a recordable storybook of Nana and Papa reading "I'll Love You Forever", one of Brian's favorites from when he was a kid. The kids love it, and it is awesome to be able to have Nana and Papa read to them when they aren't around.
After presents, we frosted and ate cookies.
Rachel was a little cookie monster. She ate one, and immediately wanted another. "Coooooookie, Coooooookie!" And she couldn't be fooled by a frosting-less sugar cookie. She knew where the frosting was and would just take the cookie over to the frosting and demand to have it frosted.
And then we had birthday cake/cookie to celebrate Lea and Julie's December birthdays. (Lea doesn't like chocolate, so she got a candle in a cookie instead).
A word about the December birthdays in my life. I want to apologize for dropping the ball on you every year. Once Thanksgiving is over, I hit Christmas mode, and it's hard to remember that their are birthdays in December, people who deserve so much more than the little that I have to give them that month. My nieces and nephews. My sister-in-law and my brother-in-laws. My Mom. Brian's mom. But the night of this party, I especially was thinking of Lea and my Mother-on-law, and I was wishing that we could somehow have two parties that month.
Lea is always there for me. She comes to my house for dinner and jumps right in, helping where she can. And Julie is an AMAZING mother-in-law. She always makes me feel so important. If I ever mention to Julie (or Kirt) that I like something, I somehow end up getting it. I'm not really sure how; it kind of blows me away! I'm constantly amazed by how much love and service these two give me--me, a person who shares no blood with them at all! Yet with each passing year, Julie feels like a second mom, and Lea feels like one of my sisters. For my birthday, they brought dinner to my house, and cleaned it all up when we were done eating! They both spoil me SO much. I will forever be grateful that they were born. They both give so selflessly and never expect anything back. I feel like the little I give them will never compensate for all they give me. And when I think of how they have helped shape my husband into who he is, tears of gratitude well up in my eyes. They say you can't choose your family, but you can choose your in-laws, and I'm SO glad that I inadvertently chose them the day I chose Brian. Happy late late birthday to you both!
(And I did get to take Lea out to lunch the next day, sans kids, and it was so fabulous. We got to talk for a few hours, and than rushed back to the madness known as the few days before Christmas. And we made plans to start a Christmas tradition together next year.)
2 comments:
Thank you for the report on Julie's birthday bash. She mentioned it briefly, after I had to drag it out of her. She was more interested in listening to me rant about some complicated circumstances in my life - a true Julie moment. Thanks for filling in the blanks.
A lady from our ward was telling me about The Book With No Pictures. I don't know if Russell will be able to make it through it quite yet, but I am excited to try.
Aren't recordable storybooks so great? My mom had gotten some when the first three grandkids were born, and then when she was diagnosed she got three more (for the other three families that didn't have grandkids at the time) so that all of us can have her reading a book for us. Russell loves hearing Grandma's voice, and I can't even make it through the first page with out having a total sobfest as I get to listen to her!
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