Mission: to surprise my mom on her 90th birthday.
Her big day occurs in late November, so I began to contact family members months in advance to see if I could get commitments from everyone to attend. This was, for many, no small thing. I planned to have the party at our home in Knoxville, but niece Wendy lives in Austin, Texas. Daughters Debbie and Diane live in Enfield, Connecticut and Augusta, Georgia, respectively.
We had other family members from North Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee.
I think God wanted us to have this big party because, miraculously, everyone made plans to be here and He allowed us to have a wonderful reunion and birthday celebration together.
The planning for the event was constant up until the guests began to arrive on November 21. Cindy worked tirelessly to cook ahead of time and clean, paint and organize. I shared ideas with her for making the event fun for everyone. It was a huge success. When everyone had left for home, we both sat down and thanked God for the wonderful lifetime memories we all share.
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| The Birthday Girl |
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| Brother Dave |
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| Wendi and Cindy |
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| Jan |
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| Lucinda |
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| Patti |
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| Kevin |
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| Wendi |
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| Catherine |
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| Cindy |
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| Diane and Debbie |
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| Fred |
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| Deb and Me |
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| Dave and Jan |
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| Dave, Richard and Fred |
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| Cindy Serves the Cake to Mom (Yes, There Are 90 Candles!) |
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| Canyon, Lucinda and Mom |
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| Mom Recites Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat" for the Group |
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| Wendi Entertains |
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| Actin' Silly |
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| Lucinda, Debbie and Diane |
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| Richard |
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| All the Different Places Represented |
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| TOP L---R Richard, Catherine, David, Debbie, Eileen, Fred, Lucinda, Tracy, Clint, Patti, Cindy ROW 2 Seated L---R Diane, Clinton, Jan, Wendi BOTTOM ROW L---R Tyler, Canyon |
