Party Guests!

Just a glimpse of my mom and dad's birthday party...

 

 Lots of family and friends came to celebrate with us!

 Lots of little ones came too!

And lots of even littler ones.

 Lots of visiting.

 Lots of laughs.

 Lots of food.

 Lots of little ones signing the guest book.

 Lots and lots of family and friends.

 Lots of food to choose from.

 Lots of cubed bread and dips and chips to choose from.

 Lots of smiles.

 Lots of love for my mom and dad.

 Lots of pregnant siblings and siblings-in-law (just one of them pictured here).

 Lots of little ones to hold while going through the food line.

 Lots of tables and chairs to hold all of our guests.

 Lots of families.

 Lots of eating.

 Lots and lots of happiness. I think they're on cloud 9.

 Lots of joy.

Lots of catching up. 

Lots of Tumbergs. 

 Lots of Ahos.

 Lots of conversing.

 Lots of cuties.

Lots of buckets.

I could go on and on... I probably have about 200 more photos... but, I think I'll stop.

Oh, it was such a special night! Many thanks to all those who came and celebrated with us!
My mom and dad had such a great time!

It was our (me and my siblings) pleasure to honor them with this party! And we're grateful that you came!

Ooh, look at this! This gift was given to my mom and dad by one of the party guests, she had found it while cleaning out someones house. There are even a few matches still in it. My siblings and I got a kick out of this. We couldn't help but wonder if there are more... but mom assured us that there are no more of those laying around, she's certain that she used them all up with a certain match lighting habit she left in her past. ;)


Other party related posts:
 Party time!
More party prep photos...
Birthday party centerpieces!

Party time!

Happy birthday mom and dad!

My dad turned 75 (11/14) and my mom turned 65 (11/10)! I'm so glad my sis and I made the trek to MN to celebrate with them.

Here's a bit of the party food...

More photos of the party and party guests coming soon! :)

Other related posts:
More party prep photos...
Birthday party centerpieces!

Hope you're enjoying your thanksgiving week-end!

More party prep photos...

Look at this big ol' tub of my mom's amazing homemade lollipops!

Getting ready for some serious spinach-artichoke dip making!

That bowl is giant! And everything in it is so yummy! Oh man, I could go for another dip right now!  

Oh, here's my adorable sister-in-law Kiersten and her adorable baby bump! She was busy slicing and dicing and helping wherever she could. A pleasant, adorable, helpful little thing she is. I like her. A lot.

She sliced all of these pretty lemons and limes too.

I found more lollipop photos! They're so bright and cheery that I had to keep taking pictures!

I remember making these with my mom, probably as young as 4th grade. She'll deny it, but she's inspired a lot of creativity in her children. She could get lost in her kitchen for hours and hours working on some new bar, cookie or candy... and dad and all 10 of us kids, we never complained. Well, except maybe when they were all gone.

Oh, they're just so cute! :)

Oh, this was a new one for me. It's a pepperoni pizza dip! And it was a big hit! My sister Dayna got the recipe from our cousin Jennifer and then my sisters and I made it for the party. Big families are so helpful at times like these!

Another helpful family member, my cousin Katie made all of this bread! Oh. My. Yum!
She made a couple different kinds of Finnish flat bread and some sourdough loaves to go with the spinach-artichoke dip. It was so good that I even shoved some into my suitcase and hauled it back to Washington with me. I wish I would've brought more, my family devoured it in about 2 seconds.

Here's my brother-in-law Chet, sis-in-law Kiersten and my sister, Rita - all buttering bread. It's what we do. We pre-butter the Finnish flat bread. And we like butter. I hadn't really thought of it before, but I'm not really sure why it's done. Maybe someone can help me out? I suppose it's for the convenience - a butter dish while standing in a giant buffet line would take way too long... or, maybe there's other reasons, but I think I'm good with - that's what we Wolf Lake-ish area Finnish folk do.

Look at these bars. My sisters who live in the midwest had been busy baking for the party. They made rice krispie bars, scotcheroo bars, 7 layer bars and my new favorite, grandma's mistake bars. It's my sister Dayna's go-to recipe. They are the ones on the far end of the trays. It's simple, chocolatey recipe and everyone loves it! Yeah, I'll get you the recipe, it's that's good. A couple of days ago, I made my first pan of it and brought to the church for a community quilt sewing day and it was a hit! Like, it got lots of recipe requests good!

Ahh... all ready for the party to start!

But first one more look at my moms lollipops. Love them. Love her. Love that she wanted to help for her own party.

More party details to come...

Other party related post:
Birthday party centerpieces!

Speaking of my mom...

...these are her parents, Raphael and Linda. They have raised 18 children and will celebrate 70 years of marriage in December. I'm so blessed to call them my grandparents.
I find my heart and mind still in MN as my grandpa is currently in the hospital after having surgery to remove a clot and is now dealing with complications. My heart is heavy as I think of grandpa and grandma, my prayers and thoughts are with them, their children and all those who know them and love them. More prayers are certainly welcome.