Family Birthday

So Sunday night was family birthday party for R, my sister and my dad, who all have birthdays around now, at my parents house. (My Dad will be 70!)

I went over early to help my mom with the cooking. I got there an found that she had done most of the work and wasn't feeling very well. So I told her to go lie down and I would work on the rest. Telling my mother to lie down rarely works. This time it worked a little bit. She went to lye down for a bit, then came back worried that we couldn't find the ice cream base without her. We had found the ice cream base, and I had made her a cup of tea -- so I gave her the tea and sent her back to bed. Then when the ice cream was done I went a got her to lick the dasher. Then she rested and I read, till it was time for the next big push. After the push we both rested again.

Then my sister and her family and R and his mother arrived. We had bread and cheese and chips with guacamole (it was very lime-y because we had lovely juicy limes given to us by a friend, and I used the whole thing.) For the cheese plate mom and I had picked out a cheese we thought each birthday person would really love.

Then week took some family pictures. My mother has taken photo's of me an my siblings ever year since my brother was baby (he's the youngest). Now we take some of just the three of us and some with S.O.'s and the niece. This year we took the photos on the back deck sitting on the bench that is part of the deck.

Next presents where opened.

Then we ate the main meal. We had beggar's chicken, which is baked in clay; Asian broccoli salad, basically steamed broccoli with an soy-sesame dressing; and garlic noddles. Next we had a lovely salad, made by my sister, it had bits of asparagus in it and a lovely lemony dressing.
For desert there was a custardy raspberry tart and home made chocolate ice cream.