Happy 90th Birthday, Great-grandpa!

On Saturday we helped celebrate Matt's Grandpa's 90th birthday with family and friends in Waterloo, Iowa.  After a four day week back at school post spring break, we woke up on Saturday morning to snow (seriously) and wind.  We packed up and embarked on the 3 hour drive, arriving just in time to have a quick picnic lunch (inside, not outside, thank you very much April-that-feels-like-February) before guests started arriving.

The party at Grandpa's assisted living center was a huge success.  Many family and friends were able to attend the open house style party and wish Grandpa happy birthday.

I have only known Grandpa for about 15 years so I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to see how his life has impacted so many others during his life in Waterloo.  Several people told me what a faithful adult example he is for those around him.

Matt's job for the afternoon was to mingle with people who knew him (or knew of him) and to cut the cake, (since he's an engineer and no one else felt up to dividing the cake into 100 pieces).  My job was to keep the kids corralled and busy, one I can handle.

After the party, we checked into our hotel, decompressed a little, then went out to dinner with Matt's parents, his older sister, and her three kids.  Good food and good company.

Sunday morning, after a rough night in the hotel for a certain 3-year-old, we were able to worship with Grandpa at his church.  As with last weekend's church service, several people at Grandpa's church have been praying for Anna and were pleased that they finally were able to meet her and see how she is doing.

After church, we packed everything up in our hotel room and played a couple of quick games in the lobby before returning to Grandpa's home for another picnic-type lunch and another chance to spend time with family before making the drive back home.

Another weekend, another 36 hour trip, another state, another night's sleep in a hotel.  We are thankful for the opportunity and ability to be a part of celebrations like this (we haven't always been able to), but we're also glad to be back home in our own beds.  No more trips planned for awhile now :)