Thanks to those of you who have left me supportive comments on my last 3 posts. Thank you also for the prayers you have offered in behalf of my friends and family who are sick or have cause to mourn. I am a strong believer in the power of prayer. I hope to visit each of you on your blogs soon, if I haven’t already, and thank you. With dear ones suffering around me, it is sometimes hard to be cheerful… but …. my blogging and Facebook friends are a real support and I thank you.
Thinking of all the sweet things that were done for my 70th birthday also fills me with joy.
Today’s post is a happy one….. brimming over with smiles.
It is about my Happy 70th birthday smiles…. part 3
As I told you in my last post, after having my early birthday part 1 with the family in Utah
and part 2 by going out to eat and celebrate with friends and family here at home,
I thought I was all done with birthday celebrations…. but NO NO NO….
Birthday Part 3…. the best was yet to come!
Mindy, John and Louann were planning a surprise birthday bash for me.
Mindy and Claire spent days making darling invitations and mailing them out. (I crossed out the personal information because of privacy issues.) They wanted the party to be a surprise held at Louann’s house …. but …
…It turned out that Louann’s husband went into ICU with pneumonia and congestive heart failure. Louann was spending 8-10 hours a day at the hospital. Mindy and John didn’t want Louann to have to worry about having a party. Mindy lives 20 miles away… so… it was decided that our house was the best place for the party.
Mindy told me….. “ Dad, Louann and I are giving you a surprise party….. and SURPRISE…. IT IS AT YOUR HOUSE!” Mindy told me early because she knew I would want to get my house and patios “party ready”. She was right about that. I was glad I had advanced warning!
The day of the party Mindy filled the house with beautiful flowers, cheerful balloons and Happy Birthday Banners.
John had our favorite little Mexican restaurant cater the food… and it was delicious.
We had people eating all over the place…
Inside….. and out
Look closely at this next picture and you will see that John even fixed ….
… the fountain in the middle of the spa. It has not spouted up like this for years. John fixed it just for the party. I was totally surprised and delighted. It looked pretty and falling water sounded nice. I thought it added a lot to the atmosphere.
Mindy and Claire had planned a little program for me.
Mindy collected pictures of me through the years, from each of our kids, and made them into this wonderful collage card. What a treasure. Knowing how busy Mindy is…. and knowing how hard it is to make a collage come out right… I was amazed at her efforts.
Then Claire brought me to tears by reading this poem that she and Mindy had written.
“Now that you’ve turned 70, you may think you’re old and frail. It may be an excursion just to go and get the mail. But in our eyes you’re young at heart ‘cuz of all the things you do to fill our lives with happiness and great memories of you!
As you look upon these photos, it is clearly obvious, that you have blessed our lives by spending so much time with us. We don’t know what we’d do without the Grammy that we love. We thank our Father daily for this blessing from above.
You’ve been at every baptism and performances galore. You’ve had us all for sleepovers and cleaned throw-up off the floor. You’ve been to competitions and watched us do our flips. You let us stay at your house when our parents go on trips.
You’ve turned us into super heroes by making magic capes. We’ve been princesses at tea parties with sandwiches and cakes. Then of course, there’s dresses that you made with loving style. You carefully placed bows and beads, which took you quite a while.
Thanks giving is our favorite as we spend special time together. It warms our heart to understand that families are forever! We can’t forget your camera, and how annoying it can be…But we know we’ll pictures to place upon our family tree.
So happy birthday Grammy, we love having you around. We want you to know that in our hearts is love for you abound. We hope that you enjoy looking at our little presentation. And know that when we think of you we feel love and admiration!”
Both John and I were so proud of Claire and Mindy…
… and considered their presentation the high- light of the evening.
After the poem presentation we played a “How well do you know Lura?” game.
It was no surprise that Sil, my dear friend of 58 years won the game.
Even though we were stuffed with Mexican food, we all found room for birthday cake.
Our friends sang happy birthday, I blew out the candles and we ate the yummy cake.
I got some nice gifts … which I appreciate…
…even though it was suppose to be a “no gift” party.
The very best gift was being with sweet friends ….
….and feeling loved.
Mindy made these darling “ Thank you for coming” Oreo- pops for each guest to take when they left. Wasn’t that a cute idea! They tasted as good as they looked.
Thank you Mindy, Claire and John for all you did to make my “almost a surprise” 70th birthday party so special. I will treasure these memories forever.
(Louann and Darrell from 2 years ago)
Sweet Louann missed the party because she had to stay with her husband at the hospital that night… but… she sent food and…
…she called and arranged for other friends to help. Thanks Mary, Debby and Alicia for the great job you did on clean up duty. Thank you Terry for helping me get ready for the party and for the extra food you brought. It was delicious.
My Heart absolutely bursting with HAPPY when I think of my 70th birthday.
Thank you dear family and friends. I am blessed and so grateful.
Hugs, Grammy
