Of Robin Mitchell, 60!

Posted December 2013 (blogger has hijacked it and reposted it November 2014 for unknown reasons)

*The photos above are by Laura from Paraphrases Productions*

I've shown these a million times before but I just like them so much!

My mom turned 60 this month. As her disease progresses these milestones begin to mean more and more - we were so excited for a chance to celebrate with her! We were arranging for two parties - one in Port Alberni, where she lived since her early twenties until 5 or so years ago and one in Vancouver, where she has lived since. 

One of the best parts of this trip was spending time with my family - it was just me and Jenna and our parents on this road trip, just like old times...except with less fighting between Jenna and I. The four of us met up and took the ferry over - we had lots to chat about the whole way! We ran into a friend on the ferry, of course - we always do, and continued to chat through Nanaimo. We stopped in at Woodgrove Mall for lunch in Nanaimo - this is the same mall we've been visiting since we were kids. In honor of that we needed to go get the one treat that Mom always took us for - Prudy's Ice Cream bar! 

When we stopped in at Costco we ran into some people we knew as well - only Mitchell's can travel and find so many friends. We headed over the hump and into Port and oh, do I miss that drive - Rock, water, tree beauty. Cameron lake always looks so awesome as you drive past it. Cathedral Grove so majestic and quiet. I love driving into Port and seeing the memories of hundreds of trips down that highway. 

Upon arriving in Port we met up with Grandma and my Auntie Sandy and Uncle Jake - we had dinner at Pine Cafe (a personal favorite) and then Jenna and I headed out to the Wiebe's to spend the night - we stayed up super late chatting with Auntie Sandy and Uncle Jake and loved every moment of it. Saturday we were up bright and early to see friends then get set up for the party - we wanted this event to scream "We love Robin." And I think we achieved that. The party was being held at one of my mom's best friends houses, Pam Mann. Pam has been like an aunt to me as long as I've known her - she's always been so supportive and kind. Having the party there was such a blessing. 

We knew we needed to keep the party small so mom could have a chance to talk to people and hear them (noise is tricky) but also with enough people for her to really get to see a lot of her friends. So we kept the list under 30 ppl and invited them open house style (not all at once). It worked perfectly. We asked the guests to bring sweets or savories to share and Pam's daughter made really cute cupcakes and a cake and had her friend make some rad fondant musical pieces to celebrate our music-teacher-of-a-mom. 

We had been praying for some time about this party - that mom would feel loved and that she would be able to hold up well during the party. Often she gets overwhelmed or tired but she did so well! She felt loved and special. Jenna and I felt loved and supported by our parents friends - I made a little speech thanking them for "giving up" my parents to us, since we get them in Vancouver now, and thanking them for years of friendship to mom and dad. It was a wonderful time. 

After that Jenna and I pulled a classic "Mitchell move" and house crashed our old house! My friends Dan and Victoria live in the house and they let us have a tour of the place. I had seen it since they moved in (though not for two years) and Jenna hadn't seen it at all - it was so much fun to see the place and watch their kids love the house as much as we did. 

We headed back to the Wiebes and spent time with my aunt - and oh it was nice. That lady is such a gift to Jenna and I. We are so thankful for an aunt-friend. 

We returned to Vancouver on Sunday, hit up church as soon as we were back and then after two days back to normal we celebrated my mom's actual birthday, December 17th with a vancouver party. Since my house was already set up for Christmas, the party was Christmas theme and as we'd just hosted Rainbow's shower, it also looked just like her party! We invited my parents lifegroup, the women from Women at Prayer, our family, and some of the older folks from church. My Auntie Lesley (Mom's sister) came as well, which was a awesome treat -she even stayed at our house, which is fun. 

Since this was generally a younger crowd and was going to be a bit crazier we decided to have a bit of a program - we had Sunshine lead us a Carol-sing, I made a little speech, and then we all headed downstairs to watch two old home movies that Jenna and I had made. One was an anniversary gift from Jenna when she was 17 and one was from Jenna and I when we were 14 and 16. We thought that it would be fun to honor mom since both had tons of photos of her growing up - and also it would let everyone laugh at Jenna and I, as we were pretty ridiculous in the movies.

It was fairly perfect. Mom felt loved. Everyone laughed at us (in a nice way, I'm sure) and it was great to show our Vancouver friends what our life was like growing up. All in all, a perfect second party. 

All in all, it was a great time with family....and with so many old friends. I'm thankful for such a close, loving family - even with the addition of this dieases. It can't stop what God made us to be, and I'm so thankful for that. Thank you to all who came to celebrate mom at either party - she so appreciates it, and we do as well!