I am so excited about an upcoming gathering that I just had to share.

My Mom is going to be 80 in September. She is a healthy and active woman...she lives alone, walks every day, still works a bit as a travel agent and has a full social life.

I have 2 sisters, one in Buffalo NY and one in PA where I'm from, while my Mom is in MD. It has been years since we have all been together with our families. So to celebrate my Mom's big birthday we are getting together in Nashville for a long weekend and my Mom knows nothing about it! One of my nephews lives there so she believes that she is just coming to spend Easter with me and my husband and my nephew.

I've rented a big house where we will stay and everyone will be there when we bring her to the house. We are going a day early to get the house and food ready. There will be 15 of us, with 12 staying in the house and the others close by. We've got an itinerary figured out as well as meals and decorations etc.

My mom has always wanted a nice family portrait so I've arranged for a photographer to take photos at a local park. I am keeping my fingers crossed for good weather! We will all be dressing in various shades of blue and white, with some touches of yellow. My mom wears lots of white tops so I am pretty sure she can dress to fit in! I also am having a slide show made, with some wonderful old photos plus lots of pics of us as young girls and young women and lots of her 6 grandchildren and great grandson.

I am so thrilled to be able to do this for my Mom and my family. It's been a lot of planning it and I can't wait to go. We leave 2 weeks from tomorrow and I have already started my packing list. That's for another post