Thankful for Seventy Four

Celebrating my 74th birthday today with some Friday Flashbacks to my 60th Celebrations.

Back in 2011 our kids and Greg surprised me with more than one celebration. The first one was that Dan made the trip across the mountains to be at my 60th brunch and dinner party, too. I was totally surprised when he walked into Josh and Laura’s kitchen. After brunch on Sunday March 13th, the day before my actual birth-day, Greg and I drove north to Chuckanut Manor Restaurant to meet some of the Mennonite Girls and their husbands for a birthday dinner.

Then on Monday the 14th of March the surprises continued when a limousine showed up to take us to dinner in downtown Seattle.

 

Our daughter Katie was in Jacksonville, North Carolina, getting married to Andrew by the Justice of the Peace before Andrew took off for his first tour of duty to Afghanistan. That is why she wasn’t at this birthday celebration. One year later on March 11, 2012 we had a formal wedding for them in Seattle. They just celebrated their 14th Wedding Anniversary! Here they are 14 years ago….

My 60th birthday celebration continued into April of 2011 with a Sisters Weekend in Victoria, B.C.!

This was the trip that I met Honora face to face and she was so kind to drive me and my sisters around to some lovely spots.

Back to the present and 74 years…

On Wednesday our Colville Kids and Grands had a birthday lunch for me at their home. It was a delicious meal and lovely dessert. Addy and JJ each gave me handmade cards. I’ll share those on my post tomorrow.

Tonight we have a Marriage Conference at our church with a catered meal to kick-off the two day event.

Monday Greg and I are going for an overnight in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to celebrate St. Patrick and me.

Being in the Mid-Winter of my life on earth I don’t take for granted each new day. God has my days numbered and He leads me on until He calls me home. I can rest and be at peace in this reality. I’m a wonderer and I’m wondering what new things I’ll see and learn this new year of my life.

My Cup Was Filled…

…to overflowing yesterday!

I keep thanking God for his goodness to me expressed in so many ways yesterday through family and friends. Truly it was a day full of joy and gladness for me from start to finish and I still get to celebrate today!

 

Our day started out with an invitation for brunch at Josh and Laura’s. What I didn’t know was that Dan had taken an extra day off so he could drive over the Cascades to help celebrate my birthday. I was so overjoyed to see him when he walked in the room. I just had to keep saying his name. Thank you Josh, Laura and Dear for surprising me! Thanks Dan for driving the 6 hours one way to celebrate my birthday. The last time we had seen Dan was at Christmas. Tonight the 5 of us are going out to dinner downtown.

From brunch Dear and I headed North to meet up with 5 of the Mennonite girls and their guys for dinner at the Chuckanut Manor.

 

We had a room to ourselves overlooking the Chuckanut Bay.

 

What fun to meet all the husbands. Thank you Anneliese, Marg, Lovella, Judy and Kathy for driving across the line with your husbands to join Dear and me for a wonderful evening. I’ll never forget it…unless old age messes with my brain.

 

The food was delicious and the conversations were lively.

 

There were songs sung and candles silenced. And if that wasn’t enough I got showered with cards and gifts from Canada and Africa. I also got showered with Loonies and Toonies to send to Willow for a classroom assignment. You might be wondering about that loaf of bread. It’s the Mennonite Girls Can Cook traveling loaf that began it’s journey the day the Mennonite Girls all met for the first time at the Abbotsford airport. Yep! It’s harder than a rock but it is traveling on…

 

The rain subsided for our dinner time and we were afforded some beautiful views.

 

 

 

Seriously I was overwhelmed in a good way and I don’t take for granted the gift of family and friends that God has blessed me with!

Sixty is looking real good!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.