Congratulations on your landmark 90th birthday! I have enjoyed your company in the St. Mary's Woman's Club over the years & have fond memories of joining you in the Boutique, arranging "treasures" and untangling so many unwieldy heaps of donated necklaces! We also shared many a day creating Hospice tree ornaments - your log cabin ornament was fantastic! You also came up with the best ideas for making our annual Christmas party fun. All the best in the years to come!

My Brothers and I remember this snake incident :

It was rare that we were able to fool mom- she always seemed to be one step ahead .... In this case, by accident, we got her!

She overheard us talking about scaring her with a snake in a box, (later we found out she thought it was a rubber snake!) we did not know she was expecting it, when we approached her with the box, much to our surprise, she immediately reached into the box and grabbed the snake!! She let out a screem "That Thing IS REAL !!!! UGGGGG.

Mark

I wish everyone could have a mother like mine! The world would be a better place.

She taught us responsibility, good work ethics, to be caring, helpful and honest.

I am so thankful that I learned how to do almost everything…from gardening, cooking, cleaning and sewing, to building a house, to working on anything that is not working properly, to be artistic and creative, and have fun doing it.

She’s a mother of six, who was often raising us alone while my father was at sea. I really wonder how she did it sometimes, but she is patient, caring, and a bit strict (I know that is a good thing now!).

All six of us feel that we were truly blessed to have a mother that taught us to try things - with the belief that we could do it. She gave us the freedom to adventure out and take some risks. (How many mothers would let you climb to the top of a 75 ft. pine tree to look out and sway in the top? _While she held her breath. Riding bikes in the Mojavi Desert collecting critters. Fixing up an old truck and driving it around the fields. Nursing sick rabbits, birds, etc. in the house. )

She has prepared all different nationalities of foods (and of course we HAD to try it) and always well-balanced meals -and I'm not exaggerating.

She is very creative. She is a very good artist. I think her drawings and paintings are amazing. She makes us pinatas every year. She’s helped me with stained glass designs and can come up with ideas on how to make just about anything.

She inspires me….in her sixties and seventies, she built a house (with some help), but did the design, worked alongside others throughout the entire construction, laid tile, stone (an entire wall inside the house-really cool) and even put in a fishpond.

She continues to help all of us with our ideas - house designs, decorating ideas, cake designs, etc.

She gets us together whenever she can – from dinners, holidays, birthday parties, to an annual vacation. This really helps us to see our siblings, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. Although we are all within a 150 mile radius, we really don’t see each other as often as we’d like.

And we KNOW that we are loved.

I hope I have done as well with my children.

Thank you, Mom!

Diane

Deedee and her Siblings

Grandson Tim and Grammy enjoying putting together a big puzzle. Don't interrupt them ;*)

Great Grandson Michael Newcomer age 2-3) asking Grammy something. Grammy explaining. What love!

One thing that comes to mind, while growing up with my siblings on Smith's farm in St. Inigoes. That was a wonderful experience in which I learned so much. What I learned is the value of freedom. Looking back and seeing all the things we did. Not just seeing what goes on at a farm but to experience things like, riding minibikes, working on old trucks, running with the dogs, throwing rocks at rabbits, killing snakes and mice, riding bikes, being chased and so many things, the list goes on. We were given the freedom to live abundantly and somewhat dangerously. This brings me to Mom. Mom knew most things we did. One thing she allowed us to do, which truly surprises me because of the dangers involved. We had a gorgeous 70-foot evergreen tree that towered the farmhouse and Mom would allow us to climb this thing to the top, this was dangerous. But I enjoyed that so much. Thank you, Mom! There had to be fear you endured, which is also called love.

..................... I think?

Dan

My brothers and I used to play Mario on Grammy’s (Dee Dee’s) Wii. One time, she joined us and kept dying in the game, so I picked her up and carried her through the levels. It made her laugh in a way I’ll never forget.

That moment stuck with me, so for Christmas I gave her a picture I made, photoshopping us into the game.

Ryan