her 89th birthday

We spent the weekend at my parents' place in Wisconsin.

It was a beautiful fall weekend, a little cold, but not too much.





The chickens:



Dan showing b.g. all the tractors in the barn

Here he is showing Tim how to hold a golf club. Normally Tim smacks the ground ahead of the ball so many times before he hits it, I'm surprised the clubs aren't all bent.

This is the supervision of b.g. and the dog so they don't get hit by clubs or flying balls.

And here's the girl with the 89th birthday, opening gifts.

Some art was created. Julia and Lydia did these in a painting lesson with my dad.

These they did on their own.

Here are a bunch of us at the party today. It was at my aunt and uncle's lovely home. The food was potluck, and as always amazing. My cousins are friendly and fun and their kids adorable. It was a great day.



Here she's got help from some great grandchildren. That's my cousin's little girl.

Here is a picture of the view out back. They're on a hill, and the valley drops away for miles, gorgeous.

And my cousin put together a slide show of...well, slides. Remember those? They set up a screen and projector, and these pictures, slides a good fifty years old were as brilliant and vivid as ever.

There were lots of me, and lots of Pam. We are the two oldest grandchildren, and were a popular photo subject. We were there in the summer green hills, my curly hair, and Pam's big dark eyes, in piles of leaves, standing on snowbanks, in Christmas dresses and snowsuits. My baby brother appeared, rosy and blonde.

And there were pictures of my crazy cousins too, and my aunts and uncles as teenagers and in their weddings, and standing by their cars, goofing around in the yard, holiday after holiday.

A picture lit up--my aunt and uncle in matching Nordic sweaters, and their son started to laugh. "What ever made you think THAT was a good idea?" In the picture, my uncle is skinny with a ducktail and my aunt is grinning creamy sweetness.

Well, she started laughing back, and her laughter, Anita's laugh--it's been over a year since I've seen her, heard that laughter. It was the best part of the whole slideshow.

And to my sweet, fearless grandma, the one who has always forged ahead through anything, 89 years of you Grandma, loving us all? There is no one like you. Oh my gosh, lucky, lucky us.

Happy Birthday.

We all love you so, Val