Birthday Week!!!

Perhaps I have found the remedy to typing my blog!  I am trying a different search engine and the page error did not occur.  Yeah!  So much has happened since I last blogged that I will try to remember the highlights.  The celebration of Mom's 90th birthday began about 10 days ago when Galen and Sondra drove to Oklahoma with David.  David had flown into LAX from Mexico.  David stayed at our house for 3 days because my brother John and his wife, Cathy had also driven from California and was staying with Mom.

My brother, Noel and his family were here, so we had non-stop get togethers.  Some were at the Senior Center, some at Mom's, some at restaurants, and others at my house and Noel's.  It seems that we ate and laughed constantly.

My brother Roger and his wife, Julie flew in on Thursday afternoon, August 15th and stayed at the Grand Casino Hotel.  That night they feted Mom at the Casino buffet.

Kirk and Ezekiel flew in Thursday night.  Kirk has lost 40 pounds and looks really buff!  He's a great Dad and we enjoyed them both so much!  We also enjoyed the power point presentation that Kirk has created as part of his new job working for the Riverside-San Bernardino Baptist Association.  There are 240 churches that he works with.

Friday, August 16th, Jason (Galen's son) reserved the stretch limo from the Grand Casino to bring Mom to Gliori's Italian Restaurant in Tecumseh.  You should have seen the people watching!  She was handed a bouquet of roses when she arrived.  I had gone ahead to put birthday napkins and blowers at each place.  It looked beautiful.  We ate spaghetti, chicken, salad and bread sticks.  For dessert, we had sugar-free cupcakes. Mom was radiant!  She bought new clothes for the weekend, had her hair styled, and nails done to match her blouse.  I also took her to get purple shoes to match her pants!  No one believed she was 90 years old!

On Saturday, August 17th, 35 people came to our house for a reception and gifts.  I ordered a cake with yellow roses and made a punch with sherbet and sprite.  We also had mixed nuts and M&Ms.  The weather was perfect, so the family milled about on the patio and in the living room while the friends from church visited with Mom in the family room and brought gifts.  Cousins, George and Pat came from Illinois, Sharon drove from Little Rock, and Susan came from OKC.  Bill was proud of the lawn he had cared for over the summer months.  The rain had made it look like a green carpet.  The party was enjoyed by all.  Many people said they had never seen a family that loved each other so much and got along so well.  At the Senior Center, the people call us "the laughing table".  We joke a lot.

Kirk came to church with us on Sunday and contributed to my Bible Study class.  I accompanied Bill on his trumpet for the offertory.  I also played for the Grimm Family who sang the special music.  They are great since the mother is a high school music teacher.  Later in the afternoon, we took Kirk and Ezekiel to the airport to fly back to California.  It was wonderful to have them with us, and we look forward to visiting them next January.  Kirk can't wait for us to see his new home and huge pool.  The pictures look like a spa resort. It is a blessing from God and Tamra's parents.

I am starting to relax this week and begin my usual schedule.  I volunteered at the hospital today and gave a piano lesson.  Now, we are looking forward to Galen and Sondra moving here in a month.  God is good, and I feel blessed.  The government and the world cannot destroy my joy.  It is inside me!