MAZ75, Mom's Big Birthday Bash

Mom's 75th birthday celebration was a big success. Friends and family came from all over the country (8 states, not including Ohio). One of her friends she's known since kindergarten came from Vancouver, WA and all her biological nieces and nephews made the trip to spend the weekend with her (including from Colorado, California and Maryland).

We had a professional photographer for a few hours - the group shot below is a sneak preview of her work and represents about a third of the guests we saw over the course of the day. When her photos arrive I'll be sure to share some more.

Through research on ancestry.com we reconnected with my long-lost third cousin whose mother, Karen, (Mom's second cousin) turns out to live near my brother and his wife. Karen and Mom are second cousins - they share one set of great grandparents (Mom's grandmother (seen here, here, and here) and her grandfather were brother and sister). The three of us are in this photo with Mom's brother, Ted. 

with Mom and my brothers 

Mom helping sing happy birthday

blowing out the candles

Dad's eldest sister, her oldest son and her grandson

Cornhole tournaments went on until 3am

We rounded out the evening with a big bonfire, s'mores and a singalong.