100 minus 4

Last Sunday we had a birthday party for my 96 year old grandma.  Could you imagine living to be 96?  I asked her if she felt like she was 96 and she said that no, she didn’t and she couldn’t believe she was.  She’s doing really well considering she’s only 4 years away from being a century old!

We have a fairly small family and most of us were at the party.  The younger cousins had fun spending time together.  Of course any sort of electronic is going to keep them riveted for quite a while.

Kyle (the older cousin) had fun doing an “egg cracking” simulation on Miles (orange shirt) and Cameron (white tank top).

My family is full of people that like to take pictures, so there were cameras galore at our little gathering.

My uncle Jerry and Aunt Claire made the trip out from Colorado for the special occasion.  My parents, Abbie and I are going to Denver to visit them in August and I’m pretty excited about that trip.

My Godmother, Avis and her husband John came also.  Avis was one of my mom’s college roommates.  John and my dad always have a lot to talk about.

Marc (below with Miles) is my cousin, and Allison (below with Abbie) is his wife.  They took all the younger kids to a nearby park for a while.  I was worried that Abbie was going to be a handful as she sometimes can be, but they said she was great when they got back, so that was good to hear.  I’m always worried that friends and family are going to think my kid is a holy terror, especially when I’m not around, but they seemed to enjoy their time with her, so I was relieved.  Allison said it reminded her of when her kids were Abbie’s age.

Abbie and my grandma are 94 years apart in age!  Abbie enjoyed seeing her great-grandma and I’m glad I got a few pictures to capture the moments.

Since grandma wasn’t able to attend Abbie’s birthday party last month, she gave her her gift last week.

She gave Abbie her first tiny necklace.  I think this is my favorite picture that I took all day.  There’s just something so symbolic about an elderly person’s hands.  Just thinking about everything those hands have touched, how much food they’ve made, how many people they’ve helped – it’s just amazing really.  I think I would recognize my grandma’s hands anywhere.

We also got another 4 generation photo with my grandma, mom, Abbie and myself.  I can definitely see the resemblance between my grandma and Abbie.

And one more of my little stinker.  She’s full of funny faces!