My Granny's 90th Birthday

I just got home from an exhausting weekend...it was my Granny's 90th birthday celebration! My mother organized an open house in Granny's hometown of Martinsville, Illinois, and I flew in late Friday night to attend the festivities.

My mom, her brother Larry, Granny, and me at the reception (I'm definitely the giant of the family!). Larry flew in from Orlando to attend.

Martinsville is a small town (less than 1000 people), so I truly thought that the whole town might show up. After all, they all know Granny! Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It was right around 32 degrees and raining, with weather warnings for sleet and freezing rain. I think that kept many people away, but we still had at least 70 people attend. The reception was held at the American Legion, into which my mother put tons of work into decorating. She set up a table with many pictures of Granny over the years, along with other family members. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed looking at the pictures and reminiscing about the "good old days."

Part of the picture display.

We had THREE cakes, which was probably way too much...but you can never have too much cake!! Granny and Don ended up taking much of it home and freezing it. Knowing Granny's sweet tooth, it will all get eaten eventually! :-)

Granny enjoying some of her birthday cake!

We had been worried that she might get worn out from all the excitement, but she outlasted just about everyone! We had to keep sitting down to take a breather, but Granny was on her feet for practically the entire three hour timeframe, graciously greeting everyone who came. If you didn't know better, you would never guess that she was turning 90...she looked fabulous and had so much energy! What's even more amazing is that she fell a week ago, cracking a rib and hurting her wrist and arm. But she didn't let it slow her down. She's incredible.

Friends and family enjoying the reception.

After the open house, we went to dinner with our immediate family and Don's three sons and their wives. I think Granny enjoyed every minute of her birthday. I'm so glad that I was able to go to Illinois for the weekend to help her celebrate!

Dinner at Richard's Farm after the reception.