This is my Grandma. My Mom's mom-
Verna Edna Emma "Hamburger" Maleske Mueller Swanberg
What a name! What an amazing lady!
(By the way, "Hamburger" is just another middle name my siblings and I have given her...this lady LOVES herself a good burger! A quarter pounder with cheese to be exact!)
I have the best memories of growing up living so close to her!
We spent weekends at her house a lot! And we always had the same weekend routine: a stop at the Des Plaines Mall where we were sure to visit the candy store, Friday night dinner out at Wag's, Saturday consisted of playing in her backyard and HUGE garden, checking out different malls- which always included a stop at the Toy Store and lunch in the food court, nights spent playing Uno and watching The Golden Girls or The Sound of Music, Sunday mornings attending her church where she sang in the choir or going out for pancakes with tons of different fruit flavored syrups, and a Sunday lunch at her house with a great fresh salad and warm rolls as a must before our parents picked us up!
I can remember these weekends and countless other fun traditions with her like they took place yesterday! I will always treasure all of the time we spent together!
Verna turned 90 in late May but we waited until our whole family could be together to throw her the big bash she deserves for her incredible life!
We had the party at Stonewood Ale House in Schaumburg. The room was perfect, the food was great, and the 40 plus guests were fun company!
I made these place cards and favors for the guests.
The boxes had my Grandma's favorite chocolates inside! And if you were lucky enough to be a child at this party, you got Mike and Ike's! My Grandma always put these in our Christmas Eve "stockings" and bought them for us on Mother's Day to snack on, on our way to the cemetary to plant flowers at my great parents grave site. (Mark thinks this is the strangest tradition ever! But hey, my family is all about tradition and this just happens to be one of the many!)
The beautiful table centerpieces!
I made this special badge of honor as well and Mallory and Tyler had all the flowers, including the corsage, made at our very favorite flower shop...Streamwood Florist!
My sister and I "pinning" my Grandma!
Our handsome boy! Doesn't he look so grown up?!
Heath and I playing around!
Tyler and my Mom enjoying each other's company during lunch.
Nolan had fun pushing his puppy around on Great Grandma's walker!
Then of course we had to get Daddy in on the act and he went for a spin on the walker too!
Grandma blowing out the candles on her beautiful and yummy cake!
This is a photo of my Grandma, her three children, their children, and grand children! It is rare that we are all together because we live all across the country. But it was very nice to be able to catch up on this special day!
After we ate lunch we played the game "How Well do You Know V.E.E.H.M.M.S?"! It was a fun way to get people talking and remembering fun and unique things about my Grandma and her life! The winners at each table got to take home the centerpiece!
Heath and my cousin Chris' son Owen playing football! Touchdown! I think the party was a huge success! Great work with all the planning Mom!
The next day was our final day of the trip. We planned on having a nice lunch all together at a family favorite restaurant...
Hackney's is known for this tasty masterpiece...the onion loaf! I know it's weird, because ya'll know how much I despise onions, but I actually LOVE onion rings! Delicious!!
While waiting for our food to come, Nolan and Grandpa tried with no success to win a stuffed animal from the claw game. They had fun playing around with the other video games too!
After we ate we headed outside to snap some family photos...
I think this one turned out pretty good for propping my camera up and setting it with the self timer!
Nolan with his Auntie and new pal "Dotters"! Every time we visit Streamwood Florist, where I worked in high school, we walk out the door with a new plush toy! Nolan is always on his best behavior, super sweet, and quite the show off as soon as we walk in the door there! Think he knows the drill yet? I think so! He checks out all the stuffed animals, plants, and flowers, politely gives hugs to Soo & Ik, the shop owners and our dear friends, and in return is given his choice of stuffed animal EVERY TIME! I know most parents don't really care for yet another stuffed animal, but Nolan really plays with ALL of his! He LOVES animals!
Hackney's has great grounds with a wooded area, small pond, bridge, flowers, and this little play house!
Nolan had so much fun in his "fort"!
It had quite a few cob webs inside, and a few mosquitos too, but he didn't mind!
After playing outside for awhile we headed back to my parents house for good naps before our flight home to Denver.
Once again, our flight went SO WELL! The boys were great and Heath even fell asleep!
And before we knew it we were back HOME! We were all exhausted from 10 fun filled days of vacation and ready to settle back into our normal lives in our own house. The next day was the 4th of July, and then the next day I started my 9th year of teaching! So we really didn't have much down time to rest, unpack, do laundry, and recover from all the busyness, but that just seems to be our life these days! The busier the better!
I love being able to travel so often with our boys and to be able to expose them to so many new places and people! And I am so thankful to be able to have the resources to do so. We can't imagine life without these frequent trips and we LOVE and make the most of every opportunity we have to spend time with my family!
3 comments:
Come home as often as you like!!!
Wow, after all the vacation blogs with great pictures of your many activites, I have to say that was some awesome vacation. Great you could do so much and see so many people and still take a cruise.
Oma J
Your grandma is so cute! (I hope we look like VEEHMS and Oma B. when we are 90...) Good job on all the favors, they are really cute.
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