Dad's 90th Birthday

Wow!  It's been a month already since I last posted on Our Blog.  There's a good reason for that, however.  After hurrying to finish up all the projects I could, I left October 8th for Ely to meet up with Cherish and then head on down to Minneapolis.  We were to fly out early in the morning of the 9th for Asheville, NC.  My sister Wendy and my brother Ron picked us up at the airport and we four went out for a nice lunch together.  It was great fun and we polished off our lunch with a fancy yogurt dessert.

Many preparations had been made by Wendy and her family for Dad's 90th birthday celebration.  Her daughter and son-in-law had spent ceaseless hours putting together a video which included over 300 pictures of Dad from his youth to the present along with videos from each of the family members (including those who were not able to be there for the party) had sent wishing Dad a Happy Birthday.  There were hilarious ones, serious ones, witty ones, and very sincere videos.  About fifty guests were present to help Dad celebrate and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the presentation along with hours and hours of visiting and eating and visiting and eating and laughing.   Dad has five children, twelve grandchildren and seven great grand children who all had a wonderful time interacting and playing together.

The theme of the party was Dad's love for football, especially the FSU seminoles of Florida.  He was one of the first quarterbacks chosen to be on the team and was one of three classmates who chose the name Seminoles for the college.  Plus he met his wife( my mother) at the same school.  Maroon and gold balloons decorated the head table with paper footballs propped beside them.  To top it off, FSU was playing a football game that very day, so Dad and I watched part of that exciting game at his party too.

I so appreciated having lots of time to mix and mingle with older and younger relatives that I had not seen in a long time and whom I had never really talked with in great depth.  Some will even be coming to see us at camp here next summer. 

One of the hot topics of discussion with everyone was Cherish's newly acquired boyfriend, Patrick.  She had met him at a church in southwestern Minnesota where she spoke and led worship at a conference.  It really took her by surprise that her heart opened to him as she has been waiting a long time for the right man to come along for marriage.  It appears that the relationship is budding beautifully and we may have another son in the family before too very long.  I met Patrick  a week ago when I attended a meeting that Cherish's church from Ely was sponsoring.  What a terrific young man he is and their lives seem to match quite well.  It's great to see our daughter so happily enjoying the courtship.  We'll keep you posted about any future exciting events in this relationship.

(Top picture- place of celebration; second picture-banner for Dad; third picture-inside lodge; fifth picture-my sister Wendy and myself; sixth picture-daughter Cherish , Dad and I; seventh picture-Wendy, Dad, myself and brother Ron; ninth picture- Cherish and Patrick)