Happy Birthday Mom

Family, friends, shopping, eating, talking, laughter and a successful surprise birthday party—all packed into a long weekend—priceless!  I flew to Arkansas on Thursday afternoon—my nephew Trenton works in Little Rock and was off work just in time to retrieve me at the airport. 

Friday morning we—Mom, my sister Ann and I—piled into my niece’s vehicle and headed out for a day of shopping and lunch.  We visited Hot Springs National Park where the leaves still have lots of color left--

Niki and me being silly!  Lunch was simply fantastic at a Latino restaurant—Rolando’s--and for dessert we visited a place with an appropriate name—Fat Bottomed Girl Cupcake Place—yep, those cupcakes were to die for and would most certainly give you a fat bottom!

Back over in our neck of the woods I attended a school basketball game—the first in a long, long time!  My great-niece Elizabeth who is 14 plays on her school team—saw folks I knew and enjoyed the game—they won!

Elizabeth is in the white uniform in the middle of the three blue clad girls—the one with the long ponytail.

Saturday, Mom’s actual birthday we spent the day visiting with her and trying not to spill the beans about the surprise party planned for Sunday.  The entire family—14 of us—gathered for a wonderful dinner that evening. 

Sunday—well, did we pull off the surprise??  She never had a clue until she walked into the church hall Sunday afternoon.  It was a special afternoon visiting with friends and family—Mom looked beautiful and was so excited!  We served different flavors of pound cakes made by my sister and my sister-in-law—more chances for a fat bottom!! It was just a super special day and I am so blessed to have the family I do!

The rest of these photos were taken by my sister-in-law Vicky who has a photography business—Candid Captures.

My brother and his family with Mom and Chuck.

My sister Ann, her husband Danny with Mom and Chuck

Mom’s three childrenGranddaughter Niki and great-granddaughters Elizabeth and Leah with Mom and Chuck.

It was a jam packed weekend and I enjoyed every minute of it except that 3am wake up for my 5:50am flight this morning—UGH!  There was a happy husband and pooch waiting to see me.  Geri was kind enough to have made supper for us—homemade chicken noodle soup—even the noodles were homemade—YUM!  It’s a little cool and damp in Arizona—it rained a significant amount while I was gone.