Aunt Mari

I have been frantically trying to pull together the material I will need for my Aunt's birthday present. She turns 90 this Saturday! My family and I are heading up to Appleton, WI to celebrate with her. It will be a huge surprise because she has not seen out children in maybe 10 years. So, my cousin, her oldest son, has sent me files of pictures of her and my uncle and other cousins. And the files sat for two weeks. Why? For those of you who have school age children know that the school year is fast coming to a close. I have been swamped with my children's school projects (I hate this time of year) and have not been able to do any art. Today I was able to get to Staples to make some color copies of the materials. Now I have one week to finish.

Here is a sweet picture of my Aunt Mari when she was maybe 2. I will be using this one for sure. If nothing else, this project will be a real walk down memory lane. I found an old Newsweek from 1946! Will be using some of that in the collage! I also found my Dad's Boy Scouts membership card from the 1930s. My Uncle (Mari's husband) and my Father were brothers (both deceased). I also found a recipe from my Aunt Mari that my Mom used for years and years. We called it "Aunt Mari's chocolate cake." My Aunt Mari is the last of my aunts. My parents, and my Dad's two brothers, are gone. So this project is very near and dear to me. My Aunt does not even know that we are coming and the gift, I hope, will be icing on the cake.

K