Gpa Marshall's 90th Birthday Party

My Gpa Marshall, Richard Allen Marshall, has been around for 90 years. He has seen a lot! He knows a lot and he likes to talk about the things that he knows. He is very opinionated, but not the type of person to make you feel that your opinion is not important if he doesn't agree with you. He has lost most of his sight, but not any of his heart. He was so thrilled with his party today and the fact that everyone who came had a good time and got along so well.

We left Kerman early in the morning and headed toward the coast. It was a beautiful day, and the traffic was pretty mild. Although we did take a lot of the back roads and smaller highways, so that may have been part of it. We, of course, also stopped here and there along the way to do some geocaching.

The party was at my Aunt Lindi and Uncle Rich's house in Arroyo Grande. Lindi and Rich have a gorgeous home and it was so nice of them to welcome us all there.

My mom and Herb flew down from Alaska. It was really great to see them, if only for one day! My mom just recently retired from over 30 years of teaching, and she is really enjoying the ideas and opportunities that lie ahead of her. Herb is looking really good. I have never seen his beard so short, but it hasn't finished growing back in yet. Nothing else has changed though. Same sense of humor.

My brother Jeremy and his wife Renee came from Castaic with their twins, Zachary and Lily. The kids have grown so much and they are so cute! Lily is quite the charmer and Zachary is checking everything out. Jeremy has quite the upper body muscle mass going from constantly holding two kids, one in each arm!

Lindi's daughter Kerri was there from Stockton, with her husband, Michael, and their daughter Hayli. Hayli is adorable with big, huge brown eyes! Kerri and I have seen each other a few times over the year as we have passed each other going in and out from visiting Gma in Fresno.

Lindi's son, Jason, couldn't be there because of work commitments, but his wife, Cheryl, and their sons Justin and Jared came.

Jordan really wanted to come, but just recently started a new job, so he gave Gpa a call while we were all there celebrating. It was clear that Gpa really enjoyed that call.

We had nibblies and talked, we took lots of group pictures, and then we sang to Gpa and some of the great-grandkids helped him to blow out his candles. We all signed a mat that will go in a frame with a photo of all of us for Gpa.

We all had such a great time talking and sharing stories and experiences. Even though we don't always see each other all that often, I love the fact that we all just pick up where we left off.

After Gpa went back to his home, we all went to a pizza place called the Klondike Cafe that has an Alaska theme. It was fun. We got home MUCH later than we wanted to, but that's okay. It was worth it to be able to spend such a lovely day with family!

-Lora

See all the pics HERE.