Happy Birthday Mom!!!

We got to surprise Bestema (my Mom) yesterday for her birthday!

My sister Jill, our brother-in-law John, and our nephew Erik, drove down from the Seattle area to celebrate Mom's birthday with a dinner at my place, and a surprise gift.

Mom didn't know Jill, John & Erik were coming, so I went over to pick her up, under the story that she needed to see Nora for a couple of hours before Jeff & Judy could get there (they were coming later, near Nora's bedtime).

Of course, Mom didn't fall for it, but she was VERY surprised to see Erik holding Nora as we walked in the door!

Nora had a good time entertaining the troops while I got things ready for dinner. She's been running a bit of a fever the past couple of days, and drooling like a new tooth is coming, so she did pretty well.


Uncle John fed her dinner, and she had lots of fun saying "Yay!" and raising her arms as she cheers herself on. And of course, a staredown, nose-to-nose with her uncle.

I love how she knows her extended family so well, she loves having them around.

After bedtime, it was time to eat and get the party started!

Us kids pitched in together and got Mom a big surprise for her birthday, we got her a new laptop computer, so she can get online from her room instead of having to share the family computer, which is upstairs.

Plus, it's just nice to have your own computer!

John bought the computer, then set it up full of things so Mom could get online immediately, and she could start learning how to use her new computer.

And here's a group shot with us all. It's hard to get pictures of EVERYONE every time, because we don't stop and do it sometimes.

I've noticed over the years (I was going through some old photos recently) that we often just take pictures of the kids, or of the person the party is being held for. So last night I asked for a group shot, and after a few tries and lots of closed eyes, we got one with all of us looking in the same direction! Yay us!

Happy birthday Mom! We had such fun.

Love you lots!