Opa's 100th Birthday Party

Well, this is it.  I ended my trip with a bang! My last day of the vacation was spent at my uncle Jim's house celebrating my Opa's 100th birthday.  What a fantastic way to end a wonderful trip.  Spending time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins thinking and talking about someone we all love and miss so much.   I actually planned my trip so that I could stay for this party and I was so glad I did.  I got to see family I haven't seen for years!

My dad's dad- Opa.  He was a painter- here is his self portrait.  Pretty good Opa!  

Since Opa loved chocolate, we made all chocolate desserts! He would have been proud!

Those are Dutch flags proudly waving in a plethora of chocolate cake balls.  Chocolate cake dipped in chocolate, drizzled with chocolate, and sprinkled with chocolate.  Life doesn't get any better than this.  .  Both Opa's parents were Dutch- they came to America and he was born here.

YUMM

People mingling and eating in Jim's back yard. 

A lot of the adults.  I'm not going to even attempt to list all the names.

Nana, with the grandkids

Nana with Christina and Anthony

Nana with me and Gabe

Nana and Paul

Nana and Ellie

Nana and Kyle, I love her in this fun hat!

This is me with my cousin, Circe.  You have probably heard me mention her blog http://dopppartyofseven.blogspot.com/  It is one of my favorite blogs!  She updates it pretty much everyday so there is always something fun and witty to read.  You don't need to know her to enjoy her posts. If you have kids (or not) you will love her clever way of writing about raising a family. I have loved to get to know her and her family better through her blog! Our 2 babies were born very close together- Tziporah and Gabe.

This is me and my cousin Karen.  We were the closest growing up. 

Me and my sister Laura

My mom, me and my sisters.  I'm going to cry looking at these pictures I love my mom and sister so much.

My aunt and uncles had a little program and talked about Opa. I'm sure I would have really enjoyed listening to it.  If I hadn't been taking care of a very loud baby I would have listened.

We were all asked to write something we remember about Opa- Here is what I wrote:

When I think of Opa I think of someone who had a zest for life.  He was a character! He stood at least 6 feet tall- a big man-  and he often wore plaid pants and white patent leather shoes.  He would always let me climb all over him.  He was fun, artistic, and full of love for his family.  Going anywhere with Opa was always fun, because anytime we would go down a hill he would take his hands off the steering wheel, put them in the air and yell, "No breaks!! No breaks!! I have no breaks!!!"  letting the car go faster and faster and just when we thought we could crash for sure he would slam on the breaks and save the day.  I think he would drive down steep hills on purpose. 
 Typically we would spend every Sunday evening traveling to Opa and Nana's and seeing all of the cousins.  Nana would fix a wonderful dinner for the adults and all the grandkids would eat sugar cereal. I remember Opa would always push on the tops of our heads to keep us from growing up.  Opa loved to tease us grandkids.  One thing he loved to tease us about was snakes.  He had a tall woven basket, that was about  3 feet around and 5 feet tall.  He would tell us he had a giant snake that lived in it.  He would also tell us there were snakes that lived in his back yard under the deck.  I never knew what to believe with him! The only time I saw him serious was when he would talk about the Gospel.  He would often share his testimony and love of the gospel with us.  Opa was an artist and loved to paint.  He would let us go into his art studio and paint.  We had to be very respectful and careful with his paints.  I always loved to see what he was working on. 
The night Opa died I cried and cried.  It felt as if my heart had been shattered and would never heal.  I am sad that my husband never got to meet him in this life, but am so excited for him and my children to meet him in the next life.  He was a great man.  Since his passing I have felt him come be with me once.  I was going through some very hard times and sitting in a chair when I felt him come to sit by me, just to be with me through my trials.  I am sure he watches over all of us and helps us more than we know.  Opa was a great man!