Grandma Guelde's 80th Birthday

It just so happened that the Saturday after our week at Disney was the day that Eric's aunts and uncles planned to have a surprise party for his Grandma Guelde's 80th birthday. This worked out perfectly for us since she lives a little over an hour from Disney World in the direction of home. She didn't know about the party. All she knew was that Uncle Bob had invited us all over to dinner during halftime of the Gators game. Grandma Guelde is a huge Gators fan, as was Grandpa when he was living. We had to do our best to keep the kids quiet about the party. They were so excited.

When we arrived at Grandma's house, we had the kids take naps so they wouldn't be grumpy for the party. It had been a fun, yet exhausting week at Disney.

When half-time came, we headed over to Uncle Bob's for the party. Grandma was VERY surprised when we pulled up and there were lots of cars already there. She expected that it was just Bob, Dana, and us. She was a bit nervous because of all the people, but very happy and appreciative. Above, you can see Jarem next to the Gator's cake that Dana made. He was fascinated with it.

Here Grandma is opening her gift from us. Jesikah had made her a special card, and was excited for her to open it. Here she is looking at some dark chocolate pretzels from Goofy's Candy Co.

This is Grandma looking at the card that Jesikah made.

Grandma thanking Jesikah for the card.

Eric giving his Grandma a hug after she opened our present. They have always had a close relationship. He spent many summers with them growing up. It is neat to see his love for his grandma. We love her and are grateful for her and her legacy. We have enjoyed living a lot closer to her. The kids are getting to know her well now, and it has been fun for us to visit more often.

Here is Grandma next to her Gator cake. I wish that I had gotten pictures of everyone there. It was quite a group, and a very fun party with lots of good food and good company.