happy birthday mom

There she is, beautiful.

Here's the doorway, pretty funny little shoe-fest--and that sunshine had everyone happy.

 The kids were happy to be there, to be together.

  A bunch of cousins had a good time:

 The little ones changed into pajamas eventually.  The rest of us would have too if we'd brought them along.

At the end of the evening, I was witness to Dan very patiently convincing b.g. to leave the robot at Great-Grandma's.  It was a conversation that went on a few minutes, including the child telling him not to call a box a bin.

But he did toss it back in the box and find Great Grandma to kiss her good-bye.  (She'd have told him to take it home and bring it back if he ever grew tired of it.)

My parents had a picture taken for the church directory.  It turned out very nice.  But these two were not content to just buy a bunch of pictures--they had to have fun with it.   The photography studio offered retouching--lose your wrinkles, your age spots, turn back time.  My dad at first thought that was unnecessary.  But my mom laughed, "Where else can we both get botox and a face lift for $25?

Lookin' good, Guys, both the originals and the airbrushed ones.

See what I mean?  How could you really improve on this:

Mama?  Half a century we been together, and nobody could have a better mom, a better defender, protector, or friend.

(And yes, she has had to defend me multiple times, especially from people going on about how I have way too many kids, and is homeschool really anything, and babies born at home--people could DIE, you know.)

John knew it when he told the others, "Yeah, Gramma has your back.  You know this."

He did, even as a sassy, fresh 20 year old.

Thank you for all the ways you make life better for all of us and always have.  This whole family is nothing but lucky having you, and in fact couldn't even be who we are were it not for you.

Happy Birthday, Beautiful Girl, our own mamma, grandma, great-grandma.

love, Everybody