Nana's 97th Birthday

After the Utes' win last night, Scott thought this outfit was over-the-top for church. However, he had no reservations about wearing it to Nana's birthday party.

the idea was that everyone would bring their own "brown bag" dinners, and Scott and I would supply dessert. Well, these people being DeBrys, not one single person, including me, brought dinner. Instead, we all brought dessert to share, except for Da, who brought pad thai and Coco who brought healthy hors d'oevres. So essentially, it was perfect. Who needs real food when you have Marla's Lemon Dessert and eight kinds of chocolate cake? I think we were all grateful for the pad thai and veggies, though! They provided a savory counterpoint to the sugar.

Rita, Nana and Paul

Mary and Allison

Rita is always so loving with the kids. She helped Xanthe pick out her third cupcake. ;) No judgement here, Xanthe. I ate most of the pad thai and several pieces of Rita's chocolate cake.

Frank, the birthday girl, and Jessie

Jim and Nana

Da and Rita

Mary and Samantha

Oh, and I was also guilty of eating more than my share of the lemon dessert. Marla, did you hear the excitement when the lemon dessert I mean you and Mark walked in the door?!

Samantha and Bob

Scott took one for the team and helped Frank and Danny watch football downstairs.

For some reason, partly because a lot of the kids have gotten older, darn them, we didn't have many little kids. Ours and Julia's were the only ones! Of course, we missed all the ther little faces, but it was nice that the "older" generation had a chance to sit and talk for awhile in the relative calm.

And here they are, Nana's children. Mary wishes we could photoshop Pat in. I'm sure she was there in spirit. In flesh and blood, we had: Bob and Dot, Paul and Rita, Jim and Da, Mary and Felshaw and Mark and Marla. Being around all my aunts and uncles always reminds me of the importance of keeping each other close. A lot can happen over a lifetime, and families are complicated, but the only thing that ultimately matters is that we love each other in word and deed. I love these folks for bringing that tenet to life for me.

While Jessie was in Thailand this past summer, she did some modeling! She said this was an ad for a store like Home Depot. Jessie is beautiful outside and in. I am so proud of her! She wasn't the only family member who had some modeling skills to show. Uncle Bob was featured in ads for the University of Utah Credit Union. His pictures are on their website. When did all this talent spring up in the DeBry family!?

Well BYU's loss meant we lost Terry for the party. He couldn't take the intensity of Scott's outfit. Actually, he got home at 3 am from the game and was tired. Scott was texting him pictures of Terry's baby boy making a Utah symbol with his hands. Scott you're ruthless! Scott and Terry have a "special bond" through sports. Julia must not be afraid of her husband, since she's teasing him by holding a Ute football in this picture!

Nana seemed to enjoy the party. She lasted through a stove fire and renditions of Happy Birthday in English, Dutch and French. Hey, why didn't somebody do Thai? Oh, the stove fire? That happened because I piled up two feet worth of plastic cupcake containers on the stove, then later turned on the burner to light Nana's birthday candle. When the plastic pyre went up in flames, I remained calm, convinced in my mind that someone would get the fire out eventually. Plus, I was holding the video camera AND the birthday cupcake. Surely, someone else could douse the fire? Mom and Dot worked as a team, Mom screaming, "Circe!" and Dot throwing a glass of water on it. See? Nothing to worry about. I have people around me to put out the fires. Let's just hope I'm never home alone in a crisis situation. I hope we have many more family celebrations as exciting and heart-warming as this one, although I'm not sure how many of them will be birthday parties for Nana. The Dutch version of Happy Birthday includes the lyrics, "Long may she live! Long may she live!" Nana's reaction was, with a chuckle, "Oh no! I hope not!" Yes, Nana Ruby Robison DeBry has a huge party waiting for her on the other side. For now, they'll have to wait. We still have chocolate cake here.