Recently we celebrated my mother’s 90th birthday. She turned 90 on January 16th but didn’t want to inconvenience people with driving in the snow, so we put off the party until April. We had about 60 people for a Chinese banquet at the New Dynasty Restaurant in Lethbridge. We had 6 large round tables and there was lots of conversation throughout the afternoon. The meal was excellent. (My mother had minor complaints a few days later, but that’s the usual scenario.) Everyone else agreed with me. I had ordered a cake from Cakeworks in Calgary. My brother and sister-in-law (Phil & Janet) and their oldest (very pregnant) daughter and her husband (Meg and Derek) flew in from the coast, so I had them pick up the cake. Unfortunately Janet had to ride the 2 1/2 hour trip from Calgary with the cake on her lap. Thank you, Janet. Here are some photos from the party, showing my mom & dad’s table, my mom with her siblings (she’s wearing her coat on her shoulders), the table with mostly my family, the cake and a photo of me with my mom and my oldest daughter, Devon.

grandma's table mom & siblings our tablebirthday cake

mom, me, Devon

Here we are at my parents’ house. Quite a few family members came to the house after the restaurant party. It was relaxed, casual and crowded – like so many family gatherings from the past. All the grandchildren (plus partners and friends) spent a few hours searching through old photos and memorabilia. They were successful in establishing some dates and sorting out a fantastic mess. Several photos were scanned and we are planning to do the rest so the images don’t get lost.time to eat again photo sort old time mom and dad

My parents’ basement is a virtual treasure trove of old things – including these vintage Hudson Bay coats. These coats are now scattered across the county, keeping the grandchildren warm.

Hudson's Bay coats

Our youngest daughter, Christine, was not able to make it home from Italy for the party. We missed seeing her. Three of my brother’s kids weren’t able to make it either. The party day was decent weather-wise, but that night it started to snow, dumping more snow than Lethbridge had seen in 2 years. The last photo shows the weather we woke up to. Typical southern Alberta weather. Sunday morning we headed back to Calgary. Devon, Andrew, Brad and Kim had flights to catch on Monday, and we weren’t taking any chances with the roads. Marc was keen to get home too. I don’t think any of us wanted to spend another night at A Coulee View Getaway Inn. That was the name of the house we rented for the week-end, but it did not exactly match the description on the website.my mom and dad dad, me, mom, Phil grandparents & grandkids family shot

Here’s Felix trying to get comfortable as we were getting ready to leave. We were all a little anxious to get going, since this was the “view” in the morning. (winter trees shielding our view of the neighboring cemetery)Felix in a box snowy coulee viewAll in all it was a great week-end. I think everyone enjoyed themselves – even my mom and dad.

19 thoughts

  1. Wow, Terri you’re the stock of two genetic marvels! I would have never thought your mom was 90. No way! Both of your parents are two very attractive senior citizens. They must be in the top one percentile in their age group. Felix looks pretty good, too. Thanks for sharing the photos. That’s a great shot of your parents when they were young. I feel like such a voyeur!

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    1. Thanks so much. My dad is only 89 – he always braggs about marrying an older woman. The amazing thing about that old photo is the uncanny resemblance to my youngest son. At least he has an idea of what to expect when he gets older!

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  4. My goodness but your mother looks incredible for 90, or even for much younger. 🙂 What a wonderful reason to celebrate and I enjoyed looking at your family photos. What a delightful occasion, Terri. Congratulations to you all…and those are fun coats! I think you need them!

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  6. Your Mom looks fabulous for 90, Terri. We enjoyed our visit a month ago when we checked up on Felix the cat. I especially enjoyed your Dad asking if we were there to pick up the GD cat…..lol

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  7. I love all the photos, but especially the last one of just your parents and the one with your parents and you and Phil. I can see Marc in the photo of your young Dad. I was a really nice weekend!

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    1. Thanks. It was a great week-end. For all the fussing ahead of time, it was still pretty relaxed, but I was glad when it was over. Of course, that’s true of many family gatherings! Several of these photos were from Meg. I was not my usual self with the camera, but I knew there were lots of people picking up the slack. I’m still waiting to see some more of those photos…

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  8. What a good looking family Terri! Love those Hudson Bay coats.
    I’ll see you at your 90th 🙂 sooner too I hope.

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  9. Congratulations on your mother’s 90th birthday. The photo graphs show your pleasure of hosting the party.Thank you for posting the photos.
    Ranu

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