Our 2013 Spring gathering was also Mom's 75th Birthday Party! We went to Maison Marcotte and used the (newly remodeled) activity room there. This location is very spacious and worked well for us.
I had ordered a special cake for the occasion. We get our cakes from Ahimsa Custom Cakes. I told Kristi that my Mom loved the Maine coast, and Old Orchard Beach in particular has a lot of meaning for the family. Kristi asked if I had a design in mind, and I said "I can come up with one, but I would prefer to leave it to you." So she brought the seashore to our celebration, with sun-kissed sand and waves breaking into foam. (The cake was 'vanilla bean', and nothing like those boring white cakes you get from the grocery store.)
We also had some other dessert and snack items.
We brought up meals from Campus Cuisine. Matt had remembered to bring the sheets of paper with the words to grace (that we sing before the meal).
Here is a picture of Gerry, right after the meal. Notice the picture on the wall, a lovely silhouette shot of the Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul. The other pictures on the walls of the room were also of the immediate area.
Matt and Gerry in deep discussion.
Nicki and Keagan in deep game playing. Nicki and Keagan play very well together, as shown in this photographic evidence:
Here is Mom with the cake. Notice the cute little frosting 'placard' on the cake.
The quality of this picture is not particularly good, but I'm posting it anyway. Self portrait of Matt and Mom:
Matt was having fun using his new iPhone. Although Mom managed to stump Siri with her very first question! Siri finally made up for it by providing a picture of Saint Theophan, whom Mom had asked about.
We did not keep the candle lit very long, not knowing how sensitive the smoke & fire detectors in the room are. But after it was lit, Matt first had to get a picture taken, and then Mom blew the candle out. Here are a few action shots.
Mom then opened a couple of gifts up.
Updated July 2020