December 27, 2008...

This day was a special day for the family. First, we were celebrating Christmas with Keith's family. Secondly, it is Great Uncle Carey's birthday (whom we mistakenly forgot to send a card to...sorry). Thirdly, and most importantly...it was also Great Grandma Hatch's birthday. In case you hadn't heard she turned:
80

(the size of the number is for emphasis)

That's right, she is now a whopping 80 years of age. We were tempted, but we decided not to ask her what it was like before the innovation of the wheel, or how they heated their homes before the ability to create fire. However, things certainly have changed since she was born. For instance, in 1928:

• the average price of a car was $475
• the price of a gallon of milk was $0.57 (assuming you didn't just milk it yourself)
• a postage stamp was only 2 cents (the pony express was cheap back in those days)
• Herbert Hoover (no relation to the vacuum cleaner guy) was elected president...yes, of the United States
• Babe Ruth led the NY Yankees to the World Series Championship
• The first TV set was sold for $75 (or a cow that you could milk for 131 gallons of milk)
• The first cartoon with sound (Steamboat Willie) was produced by Walt Disney
• Penicillin was discovered (we will let you come up with your own joke here)
• Congress allocated $32 million of the federal budget to enforce prohibition
• The US population was 120,509,000, compared to 305,541,000 today

All the fun facts aside, we were very happy that we were all able to get together and celebrate Grandma's birthday together. Too often, her birthday has gotten lumped in with Christmas on the 25th, so it was nice to give her a day (admittedly and ironically, after opening Christmas gifts) that was her own: a much deserved,and hopefully happy, birthday.