Happy Birthday, Renee!

I spent the weekend with my siblings. The baby of the family turned 60 on Friday, and she and her daughter had an open house party at the condo's party room to celebrate. I drove to Louisville on Thursday and my brother and other sister, and their spouses, flew in from Florida that day as well.

On Friday we all went to Cynthiana to visit our aunt Edna. She is our only relative in Kentucky - most of them are in Minnesota and points west. She's a lovely lady, and we all enjoyed our visit with her. One thing she told us that none of us had known was that when we visited her and Uncle Raymond (Daddy's brother) in 1951, they did not know we were coming. I had not realized it, but Pauline said Mother liked to surprise people. Can you imagine a surprise visit from a family of six (children aged 3, 6 1/2, 10 1/2 and almost 13) plus a mid-sized dog? Perhaps I shouldn't count the dog as an imposition since it actually belonged to Raymond; he had left it with us a few years before when he went to the Pacific Northwest to school.

Renee's birthday was actually on Friday, but the party was on Saturday. She had made signs with numbers adding to sixty, and had them hanging around the room. Her daughter Autumn, who turned thirty last month, thought it appropriate for them both to be photographed with this sign. I agree.

The invitations said 'no gifts' but there were a few, plus many cards. The large 'book' you see in the lower left of the picture is a scrapbook Autumn put together with pictures from our family, with the largest part being of Renee's life. She did a great job!

On Sunday, we all went to Renee's church. I love the windows in the sanctuary. I should have taken pictures of the banners hanging there, also, because Renee made them. She said that they've told her she's the official banner-maker for life.