Birthday Parties!

It was time once again to celebrate Barbie's birthday because finally all my sisters were in town.  Andrea and Valerie arranged for us to make our own Straw Sandwiches.  They were great.  Even the kids were choosing the rye bread and sauerkraut.  Above is a picture with Barbie and Mike with the grandsons.

 

 

Here are some of the granddaughters.

Happy Birthday, Mom! These desserts sure were yummy.

 After Mom's final birthday party we celebrated Mimi's 90th birthday.  Mimi had her closest family join her for dinner at her favorite Italian Restaurant, La Fontanella.  Her youngest daughter, Sally, was unable to make it out for the celebration.  Below is my Mom's brother, Walter Reed II, with his son, Walter Reed III...aka, Walter and Reed.

 Next we have Reed with his mom, Chris. 

 Here I am with my mom.  We had a nice dinner.  I was full after the yummy appetizers.

 Then Mimi's niece, Lori, and husband came.  Lori's mom is Mimi's sister, Patty.  Lori and my mom are close in age, look similar, and are good friends.  While growing up, many people thought Mom and Lori were sisters.

 Then Todd and Valerie were sitting together.  By the way, if you think we all look so dashing, it is because we just finished taking our family picture.  There were 27 people in the picture; it was quite the task.

 And here is Mimi's sister, Patty, and her husband, Uncle Dick.  Daniel and I were the last to arrive for dinner.  The only 2 seats left were one next to my mom and one next to Uncle Dick.  I just laughed to myself, gave Daniel a kiss and said, "Have Fun!"  Then after dinner Uncle Walter started harassing Daniel about his dinner partner.  You see, Uncle Dick has had a lot of life experiences he loves to share plus he can't hear very well.  So the conversation one has with Dick it totally one-sided.  You end up hearing about all the wonderful things he has accomplished!  But Daniel is very, VERY kind and respectful.  He just sits, listens, and asks more questions.  Daniel is a saint!

 After dinner Kate and Mike W. made Mimi the HUGEST cake I have ever seen not made at a bakery.  It wasn't just some yellow cake mixes thrown together.  It was very impressive.  Mike said it had something crazy like 3 dozen eggs, 5 pounds of sugar and several bags of lemons.  It was a delicious, dense lemon cake. 

Happy 90th birthday, Mimi!  We love you.