{Celebrating 90 Years and One Beautiful Life}

There's only one appropriate thing to do when a person lives nine decades, and that's

to get everyone together and a have a big party. So, that's what we did.

Margaret Bowman Link, David's grandma, recently had a big birthday milestone --

90 years! (Can you imagine the things she's seen and the changes she's witnessed in

her time on this earth?) She is such an amazing person who has lived a beautiful life,

and she's still going strong. We all got together in Michigan to help her celebrate.

The theme of the party was a University of Michigan tailgate since that's where grandma

went to college. Even the die hard Spartans in our family donned blue and gold!



Most of the family lives near grandma in the Detroit area. A few of us grandkids had

to fly or drive in, and she had no idea we were coming. It was fun to surprise her. ♥

And it was so good to see everyone. D and I hadn't seen all these people, all in one

place, since 2006 ... and 2003 before that.

Mary blew up this photo of grandma in a raft. How great is that? Floating in the lake

and enjoying the day at 89! She's with David, Brian, Mary, and Morgan. It was taken

when we were at D's parents cottage over the summer.

David shared a few kind words ...

... and then there was cake.

Mary made Grandma Link a scrapbook that was a beautiful snapshot of her life.

(I got to help her with it when she was visiting us in January.) It started off with

photos of her as a young girl, then flipped to pages of her and grandpa. It included

all her kids, grandkids and great grandchildren. We had as much fun watching her

open it as she had seeing it for the first time.

It's so rare to get everyone together. So, we had to take the opportunity to get some

family photos. It was fun to document the big and growing Link family. (I'm so lucky

to have married into such an awesome group of people.)

Grandma Link was an only child, but she and grandpa had five kids of their own.

Each of her children are married. (The spouses are in the back row.)

Look at all grandma's grandchildren. This is the first time we've ever

taken this photo with all of us together. I'm so glad we have it now.

Alex and Morgan (David's brother's kiddos) are grandma's great grandchildren.

(She has two others that weren't able to be there.)

But we couldn't just document the present without looking back through her passed,

as well. So, I collected photos from everyone beforehand and made a slideshow.

Happy birthday, Grandma Link, to a woman who has brought -- and continues to

bring -- so much life and love into the world. ♥♥♥