West Jordan 65th

My family really outdid themselves for this milestone birthday! After we all went to dinner at Archibald's in Gardner Village (with Cody, his "friend," and Nalani joining us), we gathered at our house for cake and ice cream. Sam's mom, Fontella, had worked with Carrie on a beautiful cake. Then there were gifts--great ones--gift card from Christopher & Banks (my new favorite clothing store) for new clothes and a "Magic Bullet" blender from Carl; See's chocolates from Nalani and Jed; a wonderful entertaining ideas book and candle from Curtis and Shandy; I-tunes gift card from Darren, Susan and boys (I'm getting with it in technology)as well as a true treasure from Darren who had taken an old, beat-up photo of me as a baby with my mom--the only baby picture I had, and had cleaned it up, enlarged it, and framed it. Amazing. Then the finale--Carrie had worked her heart and soul out gathering "memories of mom" from her brothers, formatted them, printed them, included photos, and made it into a book. I was absolutely blown away. I have to say Carl and I have the best kids and grandkids ever, and our greatest joy is being with them (and that includes nieces and nephews). I'm still teary over it all.

Lucky for me we were out of candles, so all I had to blow out was one little tea light (and I had to have Carson's help on that!)

Carrie and Sam had placed these roses on our kitchen table for me to find when I came home from work on my actual birthday, and the book of memories.

The crazy group that contributed to the contents of the book!Darren and family's gift--another treasure to me.