"If you're uncomfortable around my dogs,
I'm happy to lock you in the other room when you come over."
“You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says,
‘Wow, you’re right! I never would’ve thought of that!"
~Dave Barry
For many years, going back to when our family all still lived in the family home on Alta Vista in Monrovia, we have had a family lunch or dinner for the birthday of each family member. We have always asked each of the girls where and when they wanted to go - hopefully a favorite place where they would enjoy the outing. As the family grew we have continued the tradition with sons-in-law and grandchildren attending (and now husbands of grandchildren). Tracy's birthday is February 3rd.
"Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen."
Tracy and her "girls" Frankie and Dottie
Happy 50th Birthday Tracy !
This year, Tracy elected to have the family gather on Saturday February 3rd for an early birthday dinner at Matt Denny's in Arcadia. We had a full turnout -- everyone in the family who lives locally came to the dinner. We reserved the Library at Matt Denny's so we could all sit together. The photo below shows the group. From the left is Rob, Bekah, Sean, Griffin, Bonnie, me, Heather, Tracy, Jenny, Mike, and Matthew.
Below are a few closer views of the family members. I always love photos of my three girls together, like the last one in this series.
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Meghan is working for Microsoft in Boston, and Curran is attending school at Humboldt State in Arcata, so they were not expected to attend the dinner, but were certainly missed. The photo below is of Meghan and Curran when they were together just a couple of weeks ago at the Eagles/Vikings playoff game (which the Eagles won of course).
An interesting tie-in with Meghan and Curran occurred when our waitress, Amber (shown below) asked Sean if he were Meghan's father. Of course he said he was, and she said she had been a classmate of Meghan's and that she and Meghan were together at one of the soccer games where her younger brother and Curran were playing each other. Small world.
The photos below show Tracy opening her gifts. A little explanation may be in order for two photos. In the 2nd row, the first photo shows Tracy holding a metal wall sign that says "Dogs & Wine" and the final photo shows helium balloons with the number 50. Everyone wished Tracy Happy Birthday and I think everyone had a good time for the evening.
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After dinner, everyone went to the Mt. Lowe Brewing Co. for a "Final-Final." They had a live band playing and Bonnie and Griffin kicked up their heels on the dance floor.
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Tracy works for Kaiser Permanente and the people in her department threw her a birthday party at the office.
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A Note Regarding A Change in Plans: When I created my Updated Bucket List for Year 77 I planned to do something extra special for each of the girls birthdays. My idea was to have them choose something really special they wanted to do, and this type of activity would probably not involve the entire family. Then separately we would still have our traditional family birthday dinner and include our full family (and any friends invited) as always. Tracy could never get excited about doing a separate birthday activity, and finally concluded that she would attend the Family Tour of the Angels Flight Railway planned for late February and view that as her special activity.
A Little History: Tracy was born February 3rd while we still lived in San Gabriel and was only 2 years old when we moved to the Monrovia Family Home on Alta Vista. She is our only "Lefty."
My favorite girls, including Bonnie, have always had fun doing things together. Below are a few photos of them, including a few from quite a few years ago.
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Tracy loves animals. The photos below show her from the left with her current dogs Frankie (left) and Dottie at the Big Bear Lightning Tree; then her previous dogs, a Sheba named Haiku, and her two Samoyeds, Bjelkier and Hakuna.
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Tracy has always been active. The photos below show her hiking at the summit of Mt Baldy, running with Jen at the Holcomb Valley Trail Run, and on a Harley ride on Angeles Crest Highway (I should point out that she was riding "sissy" on this ride).
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