Grandpa's 80th Birthday

On Saturday, March 12^th, the Haworth family had a birthday party for Grandpa Haworth who was turning 80! Jeff had to stay home to study for his big board certification exam, but I didn’t want to miss it so the kids and I drove down on Thursday afternoon. I only did 4 hours on Thursday (about half the trip), but I hit a blizzard and icy roads, so it was nice to stop for the night at my parents.

Friday morning I got up early and we went the rest of the 4.5 hours. I stopped on the way to see my cousin Michelle and her cute kids at their house for lunch. It was so fun to let the kids get out and play with each other. We both have four kids, and they currently happen to be exact ages (7, 5, 3, baby) until a few of them have birthdays. Michelle was my best friend cousin on the Haworth side. We spent a lot of time together growing up and have a lot of fun memories. Now that we live far away from each other, we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like so it was fun to be able to spend the afternoon together.

The kids had a blast running, racing, and rolling down the big hill- missing Joseph, and the two babies of course.

From there, I headed to my Grandma and Grandpa Haworths. It was so fun to be back. Once again, growing up we spent a lot of time on their farm. I can’t imagine my childhood without my grandparent’s farm or the Benson Ranch. It just doesn’t seem like a child can grow up right without them!

Friday night was a travel day for most of the family, people came into town from all over. All 7 daughters were able to come! We did miss some of the spouses and cousins, but when the group gets this big, it's hard to find a time that works for everyone. Debbie and Kathy were the master planners and divided people up between grandpa and grandma's house and the Porter's place. It was also exciting because Grandma Hiller was able to come on Saturday and spend the night as well. She doesn't travel around as much, but we all love having her. It was wonderful having her there with everyone.

On Saturday, Debbie had the great idea to reserve the church for the day since we don't all fit comfortably into one house anymore. It was such a blast. We started out by playing basketball and games in the gym. The church worked perfectly- not only was there plenty of space for everyone, the kids were able to run around, the meal situation worked out perfectly, and we were even able to put babies down for naps in quiet, empty classrooms.

Emily loved the basketball- she was so excited

Once she grabbed a hold of a ball, she wouldn't put it down!

Matthew thought Grandma's chair looked like fun- he probably would have take it for a ride if I hadn't been watching him.

I just loved being able to see so many family members again. We've been so far away for so long, and everyone is so spread out that we don't see each other even close to what we'd like. Our family has always been very close Everyone truly loves each other and loves to be together. I'm so grateful to be a part of such a wonderful family. I have so many fun memories as a child, and it's fun to see all our kids playing and getting along so well with each other too. We didn't end up leaving the church until about 8pm Saturday night.

Tiffany, Heidi, Me

We were so lucky to be able to have Rita with us as well! She had come into town to visit Tom & Kristie and was a good sport to join the group. In fact, she shared a room with the boys and I at Grandma's house. She is a blast and I've pretty much adopted her as my 3rd mother!

1. Kathy & Tammi 2. Aubrey, Cole, Michael

3. Kolby, Cole & Tiffany 4. Joseph, Londyn, Matthew

1. Terri, Mom 2. Debbie, Michelle, Allie

3. Grandma, Me 4. Robyn, Heidi, Lauren

We had a blast playing dodgeball, running races, playing baseball, basketball, and other fun activities in the gym.

Emily definitely got spoiled with all the attention from aunts, and cousins. She loved it. She really loves her aunt Tammi

Michelle and I with our babies- Emily and Allie. I'm sure these two will be great little cousin buddies just like their mommies!

Grandpa and Grandma with Grandpa's birthday cake. You'd never know that he turned 80- he's still working the farm and keeping as active as ever. I hope I'm the same way when I hit 80!

Lilah, Tom, Cole, Houston & Becca

Robyn (6), Kathy (2), Sherri (4), Tammi (5), Debbie (1), Heidi (7), Terri (3)

All seven daughters sang a beautiful musical number at our little 'talent show' and in church on Sunday. It was beautiful! Just like all seven daughters!

Sunday morning we had church at 11. It was a beautiful meeting. The highlight was definitely when all seven daughters got up and sang a special musical number- the same on they had done at the talent show the day before. It was a beautiful number that really brought the spirit. I was just amazed at how beautiful, wonderful, spiritual, and close these 7 sisters are. I know why Grandma and Grandpa are so proud of their daughters, and I'm grateful to be related to all of them! I was also glad that Emily chose to wait until after the musical number to bonk her head on the bench and start crying, I missed the rest of the meeting.


After church we gathered back at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a yummy lunch- we did squeeze everyone together for this one, but it was a comfortable cozy. The only sad part was that this was about the time we had to start saying goodbyes. Most people had to leave by about 6pm. Dad had to leave Saturday, but luckily that meant that Mom and Cole got to ride home with me. I wanted to go the whole 9 hours, but by the time we arrived at Mom & Dad's, it was already midnight and I didn't think I could make it. So we spent the night, and left early the next morning. It was a lot of driving time (17+ hours total) but so worth it to be able to spend a couple days with the Haworth family.