Dad and Timmy - Love through the generations.
Our family had it’s first post-Christmas gathering to celebrate the January birthdays. Yes, we are one of those families. The kind of family that only needs one good reason to get together before we gather from all corners of the state.
And yesterday we had three.
Heather opening gifts on the couch.
This January marked not only my nephew Timothy’s second birthday, but my dad’s 60th birthday, and my sister Heather’s Sweet Sixteen. So before we even finished Christmas, we planned a weekend in January when we’d all be available to get-together.
We didn’t do anything special or expensive. Crazy or outrageous.
We ate cheesecake and apple pie. We watched football. We spent time together. As a family.
For us, the best part of getting together wasn’t the birthday presents, although of course we had those. The best part of getting together was catching up.
Brianna and Uncle Tony (Tamara's husband)
Pushing pause on the stress of the real world and reconnecting. There are so many things you remember and enjoy with family that can’t be communicated over text messages and Facebook posts.
First we just hung out over a late lunch and playing outside. With 7 grandchildren in the 7-and-under range there’s always fun and excitement. I have 5 kids now and my sister, Tamara, has two. Samantha and Brianna are best buddies.
Samantha’s daddy took Brianna around the block on Papa’s motorcycle and we heard about how fun that was for hours afterwards. Such a big grin! The cold weather didn’t stop her!
Then we chatted. About opportunities I’ve had recently, the property we looked at last week, my sister’s house back for rent again, my other sister’s pending trip to Ecuador to serve at a mission there….all the things that are better shared face to face when we can commiserate, encourage and laugh.
My dad with Vivian - the newest grandbaby.
Birthday cake was cheesecake and apple pie – the favorites of the birthday honorees. Sometimes breaking from tradition is more fun, right?
It was a special birthday celebration for us to be able to celebrate three generations at one time. But what made it special was being together.
How do you like to celebrate birthdays and family get-togethers?
This post was written as a compensated part of the Hallmark Life is a Special Occasion campaign but all opinions and photos are mine.
Oh, I absolutely adore that first pic (frame-worthy!) Now that my kids are older, we celebrate with the grandparents. Then, later that night, the grandparents go home and the birthday boy/girl bff’s come over for a scary movie and sleepover party. I’ll blog about it tomorrow. Right now, I’m still recovering from my son’s 13th birthday sleepover this past weekend 😉
Oh dear! A housefull of teenage boys? I think I’d need more than a day to recover! Lol! When you post about your celebration come back and share the link with us.
Isn’t it precious the love grandpa’s have for the little ones? I love the pictures of your dad with the kids. Also? B’s face when she’s on the bike? Adorable!
I’m from a big family too. Birthdays aren’t a huge to-do. We never really had parties. We’d pile into the van and go to the zoo, or have 2 or 3 friends over to have supper with us. Since I’m visiting my family right now we’ve enjoyed being able to celebrate with my brother who turned 18 this month. I made a homemade german chocolate cake and we made homemade ice cream. We sang happy birthday and we all ate together, then the big kids went to the movies. 🙂
She really had a lot of fun riding the motorcycle. 🙂 Usually the only birthdays that are bigger parties are the “big birthdays”. Heather had a Sweet Sixteen party earlier in the weekend before we could all come down as a family. So she had a bigger day with friends, and then the family joint-birthday party.
Simple parties are always the best! We never do anything fancy, but we get together with my husband’s family at least once a year — all 22 of us — and it is so nice to be together all in one place.
How neat! I share a birthday with my grandma, so we have always gotten together for it. My cousin is about to move closer, too, and I’m looking forward to more gatherings like this!
Ian and I are only a day apart, and Timothy and Heather share a birthday. It’s kind of fun!
And Vivian shares with me – the ultimate Grammie of the crew. What could be better? (more cheesecake!!)
My family has always gotten together for everyone’s birthdays and it’s tradition to make whatever kind of meal and dessert the birthday honorees desire. It’s one of the things I miss most about my Grandmother being gone, we don’t get together like we used to.
I know you miss her. ((hugs)) If we’re celebrating just one birthday the birthday-boy or girl gets to pick the dinner. This time we just went with quick and easy pasta option for so many people.
So lovely.. I love those kind of families! Happy Birthday to all!
Thank you! We had a fun time even though it wasn’t a huge party.
There’s nothing like grandparents with the grandkids! What a wonderful three-gen celebration! 🙂
It really is amazing how insane these grandparents get over these kids. 🙂
Oh, I adore when the kids and I are with the grandparents. It doesn’t happen often enough. However, since my youngest son and my mother in law share a birthday, she often travels up here to celebrate it with us. It’s become quite the tradition. My little one (6 1/2) is spoiled. 🙂
You had me at generations. Very special, Angela. Every day is a gift and birthdays, above all, should be celebrated. I never realize how important mine is to me until it arrives.
There’s so many different ways we celebrate birthdays it’s hard to say which one is my favorite! Depending if it’s a childs birthday, grandparents birthday or someone like my mom’s birthday, it’s always a different theme and has a different atmosphere. I love the fact that we do something uniquely different for each person in our family!
THE story that was better shared face-to-face that THIS Mom is still remembering, retelling, and saying, “I can’t believe I just now learned about THAT?” was when the above writer, casually asks as we are gathered around the table, “Did we ever tell you about the time Robby made a bomb?” It goes on to get better…comparisons to old episodes of MacGyver, the big “poof” as the gasoline fumes exploded in the tunnel, two scared kids who ran to the attic to peek out the window wondering if fire trucks would be coming (or police to haul them away). And to think…they all lived to tell about it a decade plus later at a casual birthday party.
one grateful mom – knowing I didn’t find out sooner is sometimes better.
Is it just me or do you look exactly like your dad? Love that photo of him with your new baby.
Your family sounds pretty amazing. What a fun celebration!!