A Hundred Years of Helen

What an amazing weekend.  Mom's 100th celebration ended up being 3 parties, two at her house with the distant relatives and one at the Nile Country Club.  It was so much fun.  By the end, Britta and I were exhausted and Mom was so energized she was happy to keep going and going just like the Energizer Bunny.

This first photo shows that Gary really did make it to the party.  He discovered wearing clothes other than warmups are quite uncomfortable, but he was able to enjoy a bit of visiting with various friends and relatives.  When I saw this photo, it shocked me how short I am in my family.

My brother, sister and I with Mom -- singing the birthday song before she blew out the candles.

Britta created a 10 minute slide show of Mom's life.  This photo shows part of the crowd.  We ended up with 101 people there to help Mom celebrate.

Andy, the accordion player is really, really good.  Mom wanted Britta to sing, so the two of them worked out a few songs.  It was so cute to watch Andy watching Britta sing--looked like a proud grandpa--he told her "you'd have thought we'd rehearsed".  He was pleasantly surprised and you could tell the whole room loved it, especially Grandma.

We weren't done when the party was over.  We had invited the out of town relatives over for dinner at 6 p.m. Sunday.  We rushed home, got Mom and Gary resting after changing into comfortable clothes, and got dinner ready.  This time Britta showed the 2 hour history of Grandma's life as people ate.  There's a lot of history in 100 years and Mom's life was quite varied and interesting.  Britta did a really good job on it.

I almost forgot to mention that we also had a pre-party party Sat. night. It was just a pizza party so those who had to leave early to get over the mountains could visit. Did I mention by Sunday night my feet were not just done, they were over-done?

But the fun didn't end there--on Monday two of the Peterson cousins came to Mom's with one pre-schooler and Grandma (our sister-in-law).  Britta and Abby had a ball singing while Britta played Mom's organ.

Then we had the mandatory visit to the goats.  Abby had apple slices in her bag and they sure look interested.

It has been a super celebration.  Tomorrow, Nov. 4 is Mom's actual birthday. We intend to be up early to watch the Today Show.  My brother sent Mom's photo in to Willard Scott--we'll see if she makes the cut.