Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Last weekend, my family had the pleasure of celebrating my Grandma's 80th birthday. All of my immediate family and most of my extended family was there. We only get everyone together about once a year for different ceremonies. It was great to be together to celebrate our wonderful, sassy grandma.
My sisters, Carey and Courtney, and I were in charge of decorations. I was supposed to provide the vases for the center pieces since I have many left from our wedding. I HAD ONE JOB! and I forgot them....yeah, I'm mad at myself, too. But no worries! It all worked out. We bought out the Dollar Tree like nobody's business.
Martha Stewart a.k.a Carey, provided a hat-making craft for the 2 dozen (no exaggeration) great-grandkids at the party. Here are my favorite little people wearing theirs:

Aubrey, 7.

Sophie, 4, didn't want to wear hers or look up for the picture. It had been a long day!

Jozie, 2.
Owen, 1 1/2
My mom Denna, Grandma Rosalie, and Aunt Dawn. This is how I assume I will look in the different stages of my life. Actually, this is how I HOPE I look. You can't go wrong with pretty and tan!
My sisters, their families, and Gerrit and I all stayed with my Uncle Dwight and Aunt Carol. They certainly took in a crowd and we were so thankful to them! They've always taken us in when we visit. And they didn't deny us this time even though our crew has grown so much! I think we can safely say that Guitar Hero was the highlight of our stay. Gerrit was loving his life. We even got my dad to play a song or two. But our biggest accomplishment was getting Carey to play (to her horror), though the room had to be cleared before "the diva" set stage in private.

This is my aunt and uncle's dog, Rudy. He's about 4 pounds. I am not a dog person, but I love this one with all my heart. If he had snuck into our car, I would not have returned him. I'm not even sorry.

This is everyone who made it to the party. My grandma and grandpa started quite a little tribe. All together there are 7 kids, 19 grandchildern, and 28 great grandchildern. Of course that doesn't include the 14 spouses to the respective kids and grandkids. That's almost 70 people! Whew! The baby I'm holding here is the youngest great-grandchild, Ozzy. He's the son of the oldest grandkid, Jake. I wanted to take Ozzy home, too. Grandma, we love you special. Thanks for being your wonderful self. Thanks for teaching us how to crochet, to notice the small things (like a seashell), to say what we mean, and to "love special."
Love,
Boo-Boo a.k.a Cassie, grandkid #13