Thursday, May 30, 2013

What 70 looks like

Last Saturday, my brother turned 70 years old!  It seems weird to have a brother that old but it won't be too many more months until I reach a milestone of my own.  Sigh.  Time marches on.

My lovely sister-in-law, Dawn, decided to throw a birthday party for him and, knowing that he wouldn't like it, decided to make it a surprise.  No small feat when she was gathering her husband's 4 sisters from 3 states to join in the fun.  Unfortunately, a fifth sister was unable to attend due to conflicts in her schedule.

Mark and I were the first to arrive on Friday morning.  We rang the doorbell at 11:00 am and Morrie came to the door in his tennis clothes, having just finished playing.  He said, "Well, thanks for stopping by..." as if we just lived down the street instead of 6 hours away.  Dawn soon appeared and informed him that we were the first of the out of town guests to arrive and since more were on their way, perhaps he should shower.

It was a really fun weekend with lots of reminiscing and laughing.  Lots of animated talking.  Lots of delicious food.  We really missed having Carolyn there and it was fun to Face Time with her.
On Saturday, Morrie (an avid photographer) set up his "studio" in the garage and we took photos.  I set up my tripod next to his and got to practice on my siblings, spouses, and even one of my nephews and his wife.
We did our little photo shoots two different days.  I'm still learning about lighting.  (Above and below)  The birthday boy and his wife.  He doesn't look so old, right?

(Above and below) Mark and I
Five of the six Thurston kids:
Bonnie left early Sunday morning, so she missed out on this group shot:

Bonnie & Don:
Cheryl & Bob:
Bonnie & Don's son, Andrew and wife, Alicia:
 Mary Kaye:
Bonnie:

Cheryl:
I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  These people are really fun to be around!