Yesterday was a big day for our family as we celebrated the 80th birthday of my Grandmother, simply called Mama by all.

We were so glad we were blessed with a beautiful weather. We transformed our Tita Bess’ garden into a party venue. The table-and-chair ensemble was completed with beautiful flower centerpieces by our Tita Edith.

Inside the house, there were splashes of pink everywhere—yes, like a debut! hehe. It was beautiful.

Guests arrived at around 5pm, and so the eating started. Our buffet consisted of the following: Pork Asado, Giant Prawns, Grilled Salmon, Pork Binagoongan, Beef Calderata Pork BBQ, Palabok, Empanadas, Fried Rice, Stir-Fried Vegetables and Green Salad.

For dessert, we had Fruit Platter, Cassava Cake and Mama’s Birthday Cake.

We had the singing of “Happy Birthday” and blowing of the cake in time for dessert.

After that, we invited all the guests to come in and watch an Audio-Visual Presentation we prepared for Mama. It was a collection of her photos journaling her journey as a woman. After the presentation was over, we showed a video of Michelle, one of my cuzins in America greeting Mama on her special day.

Mama loved it…and the family and guests loved it.

At the end of the visual-presentation, we had a very special message to Mama.

There really is just one Mama in our life. She is the force that inspires and moves us. She is the reason why we are all here, alive and enjoying life. We love her and we will always be grateful for her presence in our lives.

The guests were given a simple token of appreciation before they left the party.

Some family photos:

Zurbano Clan

The Cuzins Crew (missing Dominic, Michelle and Dianne)

Mama with her daughters: Tessie, Marlene, Cynthia and Bess

Mama with her grandchildren Dennis, Ivy, Clare, Ayie, Rachel, Lawrence and Patrick and grandchildren-in-law Chris and Terese

Mama with her sons-in-law Lito, Raul and Andy.

Thank yous:

This celebration was a team effort of everyone who gave a hand in making the party a success.

Tita Bess and family for hosting the event, making their home the venue for the party.

Tita Edith and family for venue styling.

Tita Tess (my mom) and family for the sponsoring the balloons and souvenirs.

Tita Cyn and Tita Ma and their respective families for the party preps.

The food was abundant and it wouldn’t have been if not for everyone pitching in to cook: Grilled Salmon and Pork by Tita Bess, Asado by Tita Ma, Kalderata by Tita Cyn, Binagoongan by me, Palabok by Tita Edith M, Stir-fried veggies by Tita Edith B, Empanadas from the Marcelinos.

For the creative stuff, thanks to Chris for being responsible for the banners and “thank you” tags for the souvenirs, and for coming up with a beautiful AVP. Thank you too for covering the event that resulted to wonderful photographs.

To all our friends who came, thank you very very much. You made our preps for the party worth it by joining us in celebrating Mama’s special day.