Birthday party

Council Bluffs, IA -  when we arrived on Saturday it was a nice sunny day, high in the 50's.  We made a quick stop at Camping World for a water filter we needed and a grocery stop. The weather changed drastically after dark with a very cold wind and became wind chills of twenty below zero on Sunday.  Brrr again!

My family gathered that evening - it was great to see everyone again.  We had supper together and then all worked on our parts of the celebration for the next day - my Dad's 80th birthday party.

Sunday morning we attended church and then met in the church hall for the party. The guests arrived - we had a great time visiting and celebrating with Dad.  Mom had the party theme as "His Favorite Things" - so she served his favorite foods and beverages, played his favorite songs and decorated with many of his favorite items. The program included memories told by family members and trivia about what he had done through the years.  Thank you to all the family and friends that attended. We will look forward to celebrating again in the years ahead.
That evening we gathered at Pizza Ranch for supper together and then back to the hotel for a spirited game of Progressive Rummy.  My eight year old niece, Jenna, who had never played before, beat us all.

The Guest of Honor

Our family

Monday AM -  Ben and Kelsey left early for their trip to Denver.  Some of us, including the little boys, went next door to the Bass Pro Shop to see the animals and fish displayed there.  Gary and I had never been to one, they have nice displays, we had fun watching the boys enjoy it all.  Then Katie, Jordan and family left to go have lunch and head back to Sioux Falls.  Time for goodbyes, we won't get to squeeze the boys again for a while.   We had a bite to eat there and then back to the hotel.

Riley, Jenna, and Sam

Most of the group, including us, took an afternoon nap and then we gathered again in the breakfast room of the hotel for another game of Progressive Rummy.  Eleven players, 3 decks of cards, snacks and great visiting!   (Princess Amanda beat the Captain for low score!) Later, Gary, my Dad, my sisters and I walked across the street to the casino - time to try our luck and we also wanted to see if they had a birthday money machine.  No to that, but we spent some time giving them some of our money. Treena had the best luck, she played for quite a while and broke even.  Back to the room, time for us to pack some things and get to bed.  We are leaving in the morning to head back to Coffeyville and reclaim the motorhome.

Up early - packed and went down to have breakfast with my Dad on his actual birthday.  All the family members there gradually joined us and then we said our goodbyes.  My sister and family flew out later that day, the rest were staying at my brother's for one more night.