ninety

Having lived only about a third of the years my grandma has lived, I can hardly imagine what it would have felt like for Grandma to turn 90 years old on Saturday. With only one child (okay, one and a half), it's hard to imagine being surrounded by so many descendants -- including 6 kids, 20 grandkids and 22 great grandkids.

It's been a couple of years since I saw my cousins on that side, and at least a couple more before that, so we spent a lot of the time trying to figure out which little people belonged to which cousins, and where they were living and working now. (Tim and I got cut out of the cousins shot -- I guess there were that many of us.)

I love this moment -- Grandma with the oldest and youngest great grandchild. And both boys have neat stories. Because of a broken relationship in the family, we had never met the kids of one of our cousins. But being 20 now, Adam (the oldest of this clan) decided to come and meet the rest of his family. That was a great surprise. What a neat guy.

And the youngest great grandchild is our brand new nephew, Gideon. At 9 and a half pounds, and bringing their family to 6, my sister-in-law Tara is my hero of the week.

When I asked Grandma if it was overwhelming to be celebrated by so many friends and family on one day, she said that it was, but then quickly quipped, "But you only turn 90 once!"

You've got it Grandma.

Happy Birthday.