An Early Birthday Present

As many of you know, my grandpa passed away this fall.  It was a little difficult because he was my last living grandparent and it happened while I was here in Utah and couldn't get back for the funeral.  My mom is an only child so this was tough on her.  Over Christmas vacation, we spent some time there with my parents and were able to go through the remaining items of my grandparents.  I had picked out a few kitchen items, platters, cookbooks, etc. of my grandma's as well as the doll bed, high chair and chiffarobe that were my mom's and then mine as a kid.  (These are going to be K's birthday & Christmas presents.  I'm not sure I want to know how much the shipping will cost considering the bed and chiffarobe are both large and made of wood!)

I had originally asked my mom for my grandma's china, but my mom decided that she wanted to have it.  Thankfully we came across my great grandma's china packed up in a box!  My mom and dad decided to ship me my great grandma's china for my birthday present (a little early since I don't turn 29 until March 13th!)  They are beautiful and look fantastic in the corner cupboard in our dining room.  We are missing a few pieces - some must have been broken over the years and two did not survive the trip west, but I found a company online that makes replacement pieces for 1,000's of china patterns.  Andy said that he is willing to replace some of the broke pieces for me for my birthday.  What a sweetie.  He knows how important these dishes are to me and how much I love them.

I have decided that we are going to actually USE the dishes.  They aren't going to sit in my cupboard and never get touched.  I can't wait to have our first meal in our dining room and be able to eat off of these dishes!

The stemware on the top shelf is also my grandma's.  That was one thing my grandpa gave to me before I moved from Pa to Fl.  Doesn't it look pretty in there?  BTW - Andy and I ate off of them on Valentine's day!  We put the kids to bed early and then had a nice romantic candlelight dinner using my "new" china!

Thanks Mom and Dad! - I guess this means we'll have to have a meal in the dining room using my present when you get here next week!