75 Years!

Well, I just celebrated my 75 years on this grand old earth.  75 years and feeling 30 something.  My birthday was fun.  Neal had gone to Jacob Lake for a big family type memorial for an ancestor Nixon on his mother's side and I opted to stay home and celebrate my birthday with family.

Saturday morning I met Annie, Mallory and Hayley at U of Phoenix parking lot and we all got in the Jeep and headed to Provo to met Susan and Lila Mae.  The sad thing is that Lila Mae had a trip to the emergency room two nights before and just didn't feel up to coming.  Had we been told, we would have all gone to Midway and had lunch with her.  But, we didn't know until we were on our way to Provo.

We met Susan at the Black Bear and had a delicious lunch (well some had a delicious breakfast) and from there we all went shopping.  We all bought a few items and then we headed back to Salt Lake and Susan headed back to Midway to check on Lila Mae.

Annie made me strawberry pies, which I might add were absolutely delicious!

We play a game of Shanghai (which I won).  During the evening Annie presented me with an extra special 75th birthday present and yes, I cried.  She gave me a book entitled "The Best Memories are made Gathered Around the Table".

 I was literally brought to tears as I read the quotes in the book along with the groups of pictures.  Every picture in the book is gatherings around the tables bringing tons of memories.  She did a beautiful job.  I have looked through the book so many times already.  It means so much to me and makes me feel like I have accomplished something good for this family.  What a treasured gift.

 She also made me a sign to hang above the kitchen sliding door by the table.  Now you will notice that this sign had some problems and we just had to take a picture of it.  It's my understanding that she stayed up most of the night to get the sign made after this one failed.

 This is the second try and it turned out beautiful.  Thank you, Annie for your unconditional love and friendship.  The closeness that we share cannot be measured.  I love you and thank you for making my 75th birthday one that I will long remember!