birthday city!

Grampy, post onion rings

We've had a weekend full of birthdays here. My grandfather turned 87 on Saturday, my grandmother turned 92 today (!) and Ella is turning 1 tomorrow. We tried to get Ella to join us a little earlier so that she could have the same birthday as her great grandmother, but she wasn't having it. It's okay, it's cool that hers is unique. My grandma might even remember Ella's birthday this way too, which would be pretty special since she continually forgets my mother's. For the first several years of my mother's life she actually celebrated on her due date instead of on my mom's actual birthday. Yikes. And my mom's birthday is cool too since it's the same as Elvis', a fact she likes to boast about, though never without also pointing out that it wasn't the same year! My mom is actually far more like Priscilla than Elvis when it comes to her ageless look.

Ella and her Nanamimilalatutululunoni, and cake

My grandpa's name is Ray and my grandma's name is Mae. When they got married she apparently emphasized the words in an interesting way when she said "I, Mae, take Ray." It came out more like "I may take Ray." He especially likes to tell that story. And he loves the fact that my mother's name is Alison Mae, I am Emily Mae, and Ella is Ella Mae. It's a good thing my grandmother wasn't named something like Josephine; that would have never worked.

Birthday girl Grammy

When we asked what they wanted to do to celebrate their birthdays they said "we don't want dinner or anything fancy, just get us onion rings from our favorite restaurant!" Ella also got to dig into a carrot cake, which she liked as much for the taste as for the attention it garnered. She probably had more sugar this weekend than in the rest of her entire life! In fact, the next night when we offered her ice cream for the first time, she really wasn't interested. Instead she followed Nanamimilalatututlulunoni (or should I say Charlie) into the kitchen and asked for some cheese. I love that girl.

Ella thinks she struck gold