Mother Parker turns 88!!!

Several weeks ago my mom mentioned that she was thinking about having a birthday party for my grandmother. Mother Parker is my dad's mom and she turned 88 on Sunday, February 19. She still lives by herself, drives herself to the store, doctors appointments and to get her hair done and can remember little details such as the exact time that someone called. Physically she has become pretty weak and feeble but still manages to surprise me at how well she does living alone.

When my mom came to me with the idea of a party, I know she just wanted me to give her ideas and did not expect me to take on so much responsibility. My Aunt Deb, my mom and I put our ideas together and on Sunday afternoon we had a great surprise party. And, even though it was alot of time, work and effort, it was worth it. I know my grandmother was very appreciative of all the work and I'm sure she loved having all her kids and most of her grandkids/great-grandkids all together.

Here are a couple of pictures of my grandmother from when she was younger.



Pictures of the party decor and cake. One of our red balloons ran out of air before it started. The cake was made by my friend, Cynthia Bellar, and it was so good!!! We also had a table set up with pictures of my grandmother from when she was little all the way until now and a digital frame with a slideshow of pictures playing. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of that. We went to about 6 different stores to find enough #8 candles to decorate with. I hot glued clear rhinestones on them and outlined them with silver glitter glue. After they dried I spray painted the back silver. I then put them on dowel rods that had been spray painted and stuck them in floral foam. I think they turned out pretty cute. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

My Aunt Deb has a friend who put together this amazing pamphlet, filled with fun and interesting facts from 1924, the year in which my grandmother was born.

The front

The inside

The back


Mother Parker with her cake and her "surprised" look as she walked in.

Party guests




Our family

My grandmother, her first husband, and 6 children

My grandmother and her 6 kids
Back: Wayne, Shera, Randy and Jerry
Front: LaTricia, Glenda and Mother Parker


Unfortunately, not everyone was able to attend the party but we did take pictures of the families that were there.






We all had such a nice afternoon visiting, laughing and celebrating such a special mother, grandmother and great-grandmother! We have so many memories of Mother Parker and we hope there will be many more to come!!