She turned 60!!!

Eric's mom turned 60 last week, and since most of the family was gathering in nearby Mankato for the Easter weekend, we decided to throw a big 'ol birthday bash. We only stayed for the afternoon as we were planning to spend the weekend with my family, and Eric had Friday evening church commitments. However, it was a well spent afternoon!

Remember? Mom Patenaude had her knees replaced about two months ago. Well, she was looking fantastic, walking around, up and down stairs, only helped by a cane here and there. And, as an added bonus, the surgery and stress have had a "positive" effect on her figure. She's going to deserve a shopping spree soon!

The festivities started with a re-worded rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas," which Nedra cleverly put together. I'm including a video here, mostly for Ryan and Stephanie who were the only immediate family who couldn't make it. We missed your lovely harmonizing, Stephanie! The video is a little long, but it is entertaining.

Next, we sent the kids on a clue hunt of sorts, gathering 60 things we individually love about Mom or Grandma. Each of the grand kids gave some variation of, "Grandma always gives me gum from her purse" as well as other precious memories. And each of the adults had some touching and funny things to share about their Mom or Mother in law, such as Jessica's "Mom always prays for me during hard times and I know her prayers work."

Mom's sisters Bev and Phyllis joined us for the day.

After wrangling up 60 clues, we enjoyed two of Mom's favorite cakes in the shape of a 60- lemon and chocolate. Yum, yum! And, although the afternoon took much longer to unfold than it did to blog, it wouldn't have been quite the same without the birthday hat (which Eva and I proudly take joint responsibility for)! Since the picture is so sketchy, I'll give you the highlights: the Danish flag and Deanna written in Scrabble letters. We had fun putting it together, even if it didn't fit on her head the right way :).Happy Birthday, Mom Patenaude!