Happy Valentine's Day and more!!

 Here it is Friday night, Valentine's Day evening.  And I am plumb tuckered out! LOL.  Thank you all for your sweet comments the past few days.  Many of you wanted to hear more about how things went today, as we celebrated my hubby's birthday along with Valentine's Day and also my sister and her hubby's 59th anniversary.  So here you go...We'll start with the fun stuff...Well, it was ALL fun stuff!

Here we are all gathered around the table, and of course I say, "Wait! We have to get a picture before you start eating!"  Well, Some people couldn't wait...but thanks to son Scott, who knows how to do the timer thingy on my cell phone to take a picture and jump into it himself before the actual picture snaps...here we are, all smiling and happy and hungry!

After we finished our wonderful lunch of hamburgers, hotdogs, and/or chicken thighs, potato salad, cole slaw, beans and deviled eggs, it was time for the family tradition of singing Happy Birthday to the Birthday boy:

And then of course he had to blow the candles out:

Oh, there were so many candles! LOL! But he made it, so his wish will come true! LOL.

I think he was wishing we'd quit taking pictures and get on with the cutting of the cake! There were actually two cakes...one Devil's Food with Cream Cheese/Whipped Cream frosting, and a Strawberry Cake with whipped cream topping and fresh strawberries on top. They were both good, if I do say so myself. (I baked them). LOL.

Here's some before pictures of the table, and there were Valentine's Cards, Birthday Cards, Anniversary Cards,  and Valentine candy for everyone.  

Lily Grace may have had something to do with all the little Valentines and Candy hearts for everyone...

and she and her friends sure had a nice party too!

Remember getting these kinds of Candy Hearts for Valentine's Day?

My sister Doris brought these beautiful "High Fragrance Camellias" from her garden to share with us! 

They definitely smelled so good!

After we were done eating, we girls walked around looking at the flora and fauna..here's Rose and Doris now...

And here's Doris taking a picture of some of the "flora"  (yes, we both do this...)

She was trying to identify the plant and also we were both looking at the bumblebees all over it! (and trying not to get stung!)

Come to find out it is a "Wild Radish" plant, which grows wild all over the area.  

Oh, and you remember my favorite little "Fairy Flowers", as I call them, that are growing in our yard right now?

Turns out it is something called a "Blue Toadflax" wildflower! Who'd ever thought that???

That is what is growing in the "yard" of our Gnome Home...and now there is a "Mr. Toad" sitting there pretty as you please, and he said, "I Toad You so!"   LOL.

Soon we two sisters got tired of walking and sat down in the Secret Memorial Garden on the bench to take a little break, and sweet Rose took our picture:

Some people like to say we look like twins, and I expect there will be some here who see this and will wonder. But no...we're definitely not. There were "several years" between our births, and growing up we didn't look much alike at all. Somehow over the years we have kind of melded into each other...

Here we are as children, many years ago:   I'm the "little redhead" on the end, looking up at Doris, who is the cute brunette child standing next to me, holding a bouquet of flowers. I think she was born with flowers in her hand. She's the one with the green thumb in the family.  I like to take pictures of flowers, but I don't do a very good job of growing them, so I depend on God to do that for me! LOL. That's why I love wildflowers so much.  BTW, I love this photo of my family. It is rare to find color photos from way back when, but my Grandfather loved to take "Slide" photos, and they were always in color, so this picture actually was developed from a slide.  L to R, my brothers Russell (RIP), Clifford, Doris, and Me. My parents Bill and Dorothea Mursch on the back row. (RIP for both of them too).

Speaking of wildflowers, I went looking for these Wild Plum trees the other day to see if they were blooming. I found one in the area where we used to walk all the time, but I apparently was too late for some of the trees that I usually watch for them to bloom. I was happy to find these:

So I brought some home to make a bouquet for today, but they don't look quite as good as I'd hoped, plus they keep dropping petals.

But here's one pretty photo before they totally droop and die:

Speaking of drooping...I am about to droop now...so I think I will call it a night. It was a wonderful day, and I am SO thankful for our family, and especially for my sister and her hubby Art to drive all the way up to be with us today. They live almost two hours away, so that is a long trip to make round trip in one day. I tried to talk them into spending the night, but you know how we all like to sleep in our own beds at this stage in life...and thankfully I've already heard that they arrived back home safely.

And now this verse speaks to my heart...

Psalm 4:8 NKJV

8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;

For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Good Night everyone! "Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite".   LOL.