Happy Birthday Weekend Ray

Saturday August 1st is Ray's birthday.  It's a big one - 70!  Dang! 

He asked for a pool party and you all are invited. 

Happy Birthday Ray!  You don't ask for much, so I hope friends (old - the fantasy baseball dudes you've known now for over thirty years) and new ( pickleball crew), plus family all show up to salute you. 

 It's gonna be a hot one, so we'll have cabanas up for shade and fans blowing. The pool will be typical Texas tepid but wet. 

 Food - Ray's chosen Buffalo Wild Wings and Ti  Amos pizza. The margarita machine will be serving up slushy drinks.    And heck yeah - cake!

Cheers and Big Hug

Love

Joanne

Happy Birthday Eve for My Sister

Happy Birthday Lori!  I post this on Monday and she can celebrate the week.  This picture is from  the University of Delaware. We roamed around it this summer and she's  happy  to  be a Blue Hen alumnus. 
 

My  baby  sister (ten years younger) is still a kid  at heart.  She (right) enjoyed seeing her old  pal Pluto this summer at Disney  World along with her friend, Jenn (left).

Summer concert fun with friends.   Lori is retired, stays fit with her YMCA classes, and volunteers at a local library.  She's  the best. 

Happy Birthday, young'un.   Enjoy a super  week and a healthy year.   Cake!!!

Monday Moments - Turning Two

Turning two can be full of ups and downs.  Eating pizza is fun.   This is Levi Faries - a great grandchild. (Yikes)

People bursting into a rousing "Happy Birthday" song brings tears.  Scared by the noise? Afraid of the pressures of being 2?    Mother, Abigail, was there to calm the nerves. 

Doing better once he could eat the cupcake.  Um, red dye icing - a  tad messy

Plenty of presents - but nothing's better than a bike and a lollipop. 

Good luck, Levi, in the Terrible Twos Phase.
 

Happy Birthday Dad

dad with his sister, Janice

dapper Dad back in the day

baby boy George

Dad with my sister, Lori.  She's the best!

Dad with my mom on their wedding day

 

Happy Birthday Dad!   91 now.  Last year was the big 90 celebration.  Now - it's "are you going to get to  100?  slog along".   

He had a bad week with Covid this year, but came out of it okay. No after effects. 

He broke his foot just  before the Covid and managed to heal and make  it through lugging his boot around (complaining a lot). 

He's enjoyed many of his old movies a zillion times - thank goodness  for Turner  Classics. 

And he  got to see the new Downton Abby movie - A New Era.  

Oh, my Dad is a bit nuts, but he's our crazy dad in a good way. Still chugging  along in his house happy for his chicken salad sandwich, good strawberries, and a cookie. 

Happy Birthday, Dad.  Love ya lots!

Happy Turkey Birthday and Weekend, Lori

Yesterday - Thanksgiving Day November 25th was my little sister's birthday.  She's our turkey. 

Here with our Nana Crowther

Lori - all happy in a new vest in front of her townhome

Chilling on the Brooklyn Bridge

Always a party with Dad

and back in 2011 in Ashville - hanging with Ray and our sister-in-law Cherie

Happy Birthday Lori!! Hope it was a good turkey day (with some chocolate cake too!). Enjoy your weekend and bask in the glow of another year. You are the best!!    Love - Big sis  J
 

Happy 90th Birthday Dad

 I am in PA now as you read this and today is Dad's 90th birthday.  I'm hoping he has lots of cards to open, and I know we are going  to a very fancy lunch at the William Penn Inn (est. 1714) with his friends. 

He's a pretty jaunty character, generally upbeat, and quick to laugh. Yeah, he snoozes a lot now. And that's okay. He loves his oldie movies - i.e Rear Window starring Grace Kelly.  But he also asked my brother to set up HBO Max  for him to watch In the Heights. 

The man is a hoot and he loves his desserts. I bet there's some cake today. Just have the fire extinguisher ready - 90 is a LOT of candles. 

Cheers Dad and Happy Birthday.  I love you. 

August is all About Ray

Happy Birthday Ray.  Today. August 1st - the man is a Leo

He golfs, hunts, bowls, swims, laughs, reads, likes margaritas. Loyal family man, hard worker, hard player, sports enthusiast - fantasy baseball, fantasy football, cheers his Cowboys, constantly shaking his head over the Texas Rangers.

He's my cabana boy, weed plucker, project man extraordinaire - knows how to use tools.

He makes a mean batch of sour cream enchiladas, and grills a steak to perfection.

Ray's my sweetie pie hubby.  Treats all day and all month - the goal is a decent cobbler tonight and I'll sing Happy Birthday off-key.

Cheers to Ray on his birthday.

Summer Solstice Birthday

An oldie picture, but I don't have many of my mother. I've written this before - she always dodged the camera, ever elusive.  This is back in the 1980s -  Lori's early years in college and we were visiting her. I was in from TX. My brother is missing. So young and vibrant.

Today - June 21st is my mother's birthday. She's been gone twenty five years now.
Happy Birthday Mom!  I'll eat some chocolate cake in her honor.

I liked this quote by Russell Baker:
Children rarely want to know who their parents were
before they were parents, and when age
finally stirs their curiosity, there is no parent left to tell them

Happy Birthday Ray

 A salute to Ray as he turns 60 today  - August 1st.

Sixty looks good on Ray

cowlick sticks up like a little boy

hair a tad tinged with gray

knees creak a lot

step’s a bit slower

not eager to sleep on a cot

he leaps up to hunt

maybe ooze is a better term

many activities deserve a grunt

but Ray is game for fun

a chuckle, a laugh

text a pun

oh he counts down to retire

so many projects in his brain

he’s ready to perspire

I wish him birthday joy

Ray’s much loved

he’s still Joyce and  LD’s little boy

sixty notches in the belt of life

what’s in a number

as long as there’s no strife

happy birthday Ray we loudly sing

eat cake, drink a toast (or two)

Be Sixty, You are our King

Love

Joanne

Happy Birthday Ray

 August 1st birthday
candles add heat
to the Texas inferno of
good wishes, cheer, and love
that burn for you

 happiness and health
can't ask for much more
well, maybe treats to cover
multi-sports - scuba, hunting
baseball - big score

let's celebrate the day
week, month, and year
cake baked, dinner I'll cook
Ray, you're Olympic gold
in my book

Happy Birthday, Ray!!!!           

note - pics taken in Clearwater, FL where life was cool, fresh, and relaxing. Temps in Texas on August 1st expected to hit 108 F.  Dinner might just be ice cream.

H1: Happy Easter and Happy Birthday

Happy Easter! Officially, today is a rest day from the A to Z Blog Challenge. However, why not have an H1 greeting? Nothing says Easter like tulips.

So pretty and elusive. They don't last long, but tulips have to be a favorite. They shout spring with their color and grace.

Happy Birthday to my brother, David. Born April 8th, his birthday lands on Easter every few years and today's the day.