We celebrated my mom’s birthday here yesterday. I’m happy to say that it was a very nice party with a complete lack of family drama. (Okay, maybe one twelve-year old nephew now considers me Mean Old Auntie Terri because I wouldn’t let him catapult off my love seat, torment the dog or eat his dinner in front of a Rob Schneider movie instead of at the table with the rest of the family. But other than that, it was a great party!)
My youngest brother smoked a huge beef roast in his smoker. I made the potatoes and gravy and put together a veggie platter. My sister made glazed carrots and dinner rolls. It was all delicious!
My sister also proved to be an artist in the birthday cake department.
It's a bouquet of flowers! It's a cake! It's the best of both worlds!
And there was picture-taking for posterity’s sake.
Mom and her "baby" and some of the grandkids too
Mom and her favorite (and only) daughters
It was such a successful party, I’m tempted to do it again! But maybe I’ll wait another year! 
