Happy Birthday Grandma Dayley

It has been a very busy week, and I have a lot to post about, but I wanted to reserve this post for a very special lady in my life who's birthday is today. It is my Grandma Dayley.

This is a picture that my brother texted me of her blowing out her candles a couple of nights ago.

Today is her 97th birthday!!  She was born on April 9, 1914.  Her husband, my grandpa, passed away 36 years ago, so she has lived alone as long as I can remember.  She has always been very self-sufficient.  She has lived a long and prosperous life, and I am so grateful for her influence and example in my life.
 
I was fortunate enough to live just down the road from her while growing up, so I got to see her all the time.   Something I always looked forward to was having Sunday dinners together.  We would alternate houses (hers one week, ours one week).  All Sunday dinners were a something to look forward to, but my favorite dinners were at her house.  She was a great cook.  She would often make pork roast with potatoes roasted in the drippings.  She taught me to dip my pork roast in applesauce.  It really is good.  :)  Another of my favorites was when she would dig new potatoes out of her garden and cook them with new peas and carrots with a white sauce! Yum! 
 
Occasionally, she would have us over for dinner during the week if my mom had a particularly busy day or times when my younger brothers were born, or other times of need.  One of her favorites to cook during the week was vegetable beef soup with homemade bread.  This is still a comfort food for me.  I have her recipe and make it occasionally.  I think of her each time I make it.
 
Another special thing that she did for us was to have sleepovers on the weekends.  We would take turns spending the night at her house on Saturday nights, just one at a time.  We would often eat dinner out at KFC or somewhere else, and sometimes shop.  We would get to choose any shampoo or conditioner that we wanted (and she had a lot) before we took our bath.  Then she would give us a manicure and pedicure.  We would get to sleep in her room with her and for breakfast we got to choose anything we wanted.  I usually chose pop-tarts, ovaltine, and alphabit cereal.  These were all things I didn't normally get at home.  Then she would take us home in time for church.  We always went home with a special gift.  She had drawers that she kept her special gifts and we would get to choose something.  Some of the things were items she had purchased while travelling to other places.  It was always something special.
 
She would sometimes make our birthday cakes.  She was a master at making chiffon cakes.  I usually picked the cherry chiffon for my birthday.
 
She always planted and cared for a beautiful garden.  We would often pick things/dig things from her garden when we went to visit or pick raspberries or gooseberries.  She also canned many things from her garden.
 
A year after Eric and I were married, he got a job for the summer in Burley and so we decided to see if we could live with my grandma.  It worked out great.  We helped with the cooking, cleaning, and yardwork, and we lived with her rent-free.  It helped us save money for our next year of college.  I worked at the Best Western Inn as a receptionist and for my dad's tire business doing secretarial work mostly.  Eric did cement work with a construction company.  We have fond memories of that summer we lived with her.  Unfortunatley, I killed one of her roses while spraying one time, but she was forgiving.  I remember her teaching me to make rolls and giving me lots of cooking tips that summer.
 
She always tried to give us kids opportunities to make money.  She would pay us to mow her lawn or take care of her house when she was out of town.  She would also recommend us for jobs to her friends.  My first job was helping to feed the birds and animals on a somewhat exotic bird farm of a neighbor.  She had recommended me for the job, and it went a long ways in helping me to pay for my braces.
 
In the summer, she always had popsicles that we could have in her freezer.  Another thing she kept in her freezer was homemade cookies.  Whenever our cousins came to visit, we would all get together for meals at her house. 
 
Around Christmas time, we would sometimes go to her house for candy making.  I always looked forward to having Grandma come to our house for Christmas.
 
Since we have gotten older, she has taken interest in our children and our lives.  Even though we live far away, I know she still cares about our family and our children. 
 
We appreciate all you have done for us Grandma, and we hope you have a wonderful birthday.  We love you!