Mom's 80th Celebration

Last July, my dear Mom turned 80. She was almost 42 when she had me so somehow, even though she's 80 now, I still don't think of her as old. We celebrated big- with {almost} the entire family coming home for the weekend. There are 70 of us altogether so it is no small feat to find a date that suits the whole clan. Two of the grandchildren were missing but otherwise we had a complete reunion.

We started off the weekend by the 8 siblings and our spouses taking Mom to a special restaurant for dinner. The grandchildren stayed back and had a meal in the garage- Grand Central Station for the food. We joined them for dessert- pie, baked by Mom. Her food is a highlight for the grandchildren, but this time, the only thing we let her make was pie. And we all enjoyed that pie to the fullest!

Saturday we had brunch catered in. I can't say enough good about getting meals catered when you have a bunch like this.

After brunch, we took family pictures and then did our traditional birthday celebration by blessing  Mom and hearing her share memories from her past. She showed us her first coloring book and doll. Niece Allison modeled her wedding dress.

After our evening meal, Karen and I organized a rousing game of chaos Trivia for the family. We divided into 6 teams and we then asked questions about individuals in the family and you got points for getting a correct answer. It was loud, competition was steaming hot, and it was a total chaotic experience, but made some great memories! We all tried to hand in clues about ourselves that people wouldn't likely guess.

Sunday we went to church with Mom and then set up for her Open House that afternoon. About 300 people came through to celebrate with her. We also had a slide show going with old pictures of the family which was very entertaining.

The weekend flew by like it always does when we're together. I was reminded again of how incredibly blessed I am with my big, crazy, loud family. We have strong personalities and loud voices and great story tellers. We have painful memories and we have terrifically good memories. We are all a unique piece in the puzzle. But when we get together, we have a beautiful kaleidoscope of color that makes us who we are- FAMILY!

The whole clan-

Grandma with her grandchildren

Mom and her daughters-

Mom and her sons-

All eight children-

The children with their spouses-

July Memories

After experiencing a really wild and crazy week, which included a wedding in the family and Leon's grandmother's death, we are all so exhausted. Then this morning I turned the calendar to August, and my heart sank. How can it be that we have only 3 weeks left of summer vacation? Why did summer seem to go so much faster this year? What can I do to make these last several weeks really count? I'm moving in a fog the last several days as I tackle the laundry monster and slowly put my house back in order. We all sleep and sleep, trying to catch up. Tonight we are going to a church picnic, which we are all looking forward to. Somehow, doing something normal and with our church family, looks so inviting. Refreshing, even. but before July is a dim memory, I have several events that seriously need documenting. The first is my B. family reunion that we enjoyed at the beginning of the month. There are some great photos that my niece took that I really want to post.

The whole clan

Siblings

                                                      Grandma with the grandchildren

more sibling pictures