See, I told you she doesn't look her age! Yes, she is a beautiful woman but more importantly, she is the kindest person you could ever hope to meet. She was (and still is) a gentle mother who always put her children's needs first. And now she is a doting, loving grand-mother to five grand-kids ranging in age from 20 months to 20 years. Our kids love many, many thing about their grand-mother but the one thing that they seem to mention all the time is her cooking. She is a gifted cook, one that could give many highly paid chefs a run for their money!
The photo above was taken in the Bahamas a week before Mom's birthday. Although my parents are avid travellers they had never before travelled South to escape winter. This year was different as they decided to accompany us on our week-long vacation with the kids. We had a wonderful time and the weather was glorious but, as usual, it was hard to adjust back to winter temperatures when we came back to Ottawa. This is why I thought that the perfect theme for Mom's March 1st birthday party would be "The Beach". If she could not be at the beach for her birthday why not bring a little bit of the beach to her.
The table and mantel were decorated with starfish and shells from various trips.
We prepared Vietnamese roll-ups in rice paper as appetizers.
My sister and her husband cooked a scrumptious Thai curry for the main course. The red peppers were stuffed with quinoa.
With our daughter Amélie being away at university we have temporarily lost the baker of the house so we bought a chocolate mousse birthday cake from the local bakery.
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| Proud grand-mother with four of her grand-kids |
Even the present we found her was perfect for the beach theme party. Through serendipity I
found her a necklace with pale blue crystal beads and a gold starfish. I had not been looking for a necklace but when I walked into the jewelry store near my workplace at lunchtime it was the very first thing I saw. Meant to be for sure.
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| Cassandre helping her grand-mother with her new necklace. |
