It's where the magic of Christmas Eve or Christmas day unfolded when surprises like Grandpa bringing in a Honda motorcyle for the grandkids and starting and revving it up, with smoke and exhaust kicking out right in the middle of Grandma's beautiful living room! Or when a present was opened and out flew real, live pigeons!
It's where I learned the art of quilting. Many times when stopping in to visit, I would find Grandma with a quilt set up in her big blue room, either tying or quilting away and patiently teaching me how to do it, too.
In this room I also learned how to play Rummy, a must know in the Dyreng family and over time, hours and hours have been spent in the blue room around card tables with cousins, aunts and uncles playing all kinds of games...rummy, hearts, hand and foot, spoons (the list can go on and on!)
The big blue room was always welcome to my friends. I even had a big sleepover with all of my fellow beehives! Grandma not only had the space for 12 silly little girls, but more importantly, had the patience, kindness, sense of humor and love to enjoy it with us.
I was surrounded by the most important women and girls in my life during my Bridal shower in this room.
And one of the most special experiences for me in this room, was when my Grandpa gave me my patriarchal blessing.
To say the least, there is much memory and emotion for me when thinking about Grandma's Blue Room. And recently, I added another special memory to the list....Fancy Delma Day.
This event was created by my extremely talented sister, Kristyn.
Our most clever and brilliant host, "Captivating Kristyn"
She had a thought to have a fun luncheon, for all the girls in the family, using many of Grandma's beautiful China dishes. But what developed from her simple idea was an extraoridnary day, honoring our adored Grandma Delma and learning more about our ancestors, namely Great Grandma Nettie May and Great Grandma Vera. It all began with the invitation:
Your presence is requested for a
deliciously splendid gathering.
Fancy Delma Day
Place: The Blue Room at Delma's Palace
Be sure to wear your fanciest accessories
Upon arrival, we were greeted with a book to sign in, a fancy name for the day, and a red feather boa. We sipped on frappe and listened to "Clair de Lune" (Grandma's favorite) while mingling with cousins, aunts and of course, the lady of honor herself "Darling Delma".
"Darling Delma" and "Exquisite Emily"
"Marvelous Mandi", "Lovely Queen Kera", "Adorable Cute Kelsey" and "Nice Natalie"
Through several tributes given by cousins, I learned what strong, faithful and amazing women my Grandma and her mothers were. It is so interesting to learn how they lived their day to day lives...baking their bread, growing large gardens and then harvesting everything from them, sewing all their clothes, washing clothes by hand, gathering eggs from their chickens, feeding the chickens, tending to the needs of all their children, having sick children die, doing a lot of this by themselves because the men were away from home so much. Wow. They were busy. They were amazing ladies.
We enjoyed a fashion show of some prominent dresses
"Magnificent Meagan" wearing a dress of Great Grandma Nettie May's
Me, "Angelically Good Jennie" wearing Great-Grandma Vera's dress she wore on Grandma's wedding day
"Exquisite Emily" wearing Grandma's wedding dress.
"Nice Natalie" wearing Grandma's "First Nightgown" to be worn on her wedding night. There is a funny story to this...my grandparents were both serving missions and would be coming home around the same time. Marriage had already been discussed and Grandpa was very anxious, to say the least! Not only did he have a ring bought by the time he went to get Grandma at the train station, but he also had bought this "nightgown" while he was a missionary and sent it to my Grandma while she was a missionary! Great-Grandma Nettie May thought this was scandalous! So inappropriate!!
And of course we ate delicious food off of Grandma's beautiful dishes.
"Sweetie Pie Sam", "Cutie Katie", "Magnificient Meagan", "Angelically Good Jennie" and "Exquisite Emily"
"Sweetie Pie Sam" and "Marvelous Mandi"
"Cutie Patootie Hallee", "Diva Diane" and "Adorable Miss Maddy"
We all received the surprise of our life when my Grandpa's twin sister Pauline and her husband Udel showed up...dressed for the occasion! When they heard about the fabulous party, they couldn't stand to miss out. They drove two hours in their costumes, even Uncle Udel...dressed like a woman!! When he came in decked out with pearls, high heels, and a dress so tight he could barely move, we about died laughing!!
The Dyreng Girls
This day was just lovely. Absolutely delightful!
