50 Years Together!

Yikes, I haven't blogged anything for quite some time, so I thought I'd better get caught up.

Here are some pictures from my Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary Party which we held the week after Christmas. The get together was a surprise for Mom and Dad. My oldest brother convinced them to come for Christmas at his house in northern CA, then the following Monday he told them they were going to go spend a few days at a lake house owned by some of their friends. This was true, they just didn’t know the rest of us were going to be there. The rest of us arrived at the house early and we hid up in the loft. When Mom and Dad came in, Barth and Cyndi walked them over to the big living room window to look at the lake, facing away from us. They jumped pretty high when we all shouted ‘surprise’.

Tuesday was a big celebration day. Barth presented them with the finished family picture which we took at our reunion, August 2009. Deven made the frame. You can see the real thing in person when you come for a visit to So. Calif.
Then we all took a short drive in to (Columbia?) an old mining town turned tourist attraction. Rain made it even more of an adventure, but Sarah still wanted ice cream.

Owen just loves his Grandma and Grandpa!

Riley thought splashing in the puddles was tons of fun. And she looked adorable while doing it!

That night after we enjoyed a yummy ham dinner made by Shae, we presented some homemade gifts. I put together a book with personal letters from every family member.

Brynne and Shae made a couple of beautiful quilts with family pictures.

And then we spent a couple hours watching the video Deven created. It contained interviews we completed with extended family members and old family friends. There were lots of tears and laughter throughout.

We took a break in the middle of the video to enjoy the cake we had a friend make.

Yes, that's Deven's bald head right in the middle.

The next day, to the dismay of Cyndi, Nate and Brittni (both now certified as 'crazy') decided to swim across the freezing lake.

And then we cleaned up and headed home. But first, Oliver enjoyed his first lemon. We thought we'd train him to keep his tongue in his mouth, but no such luck. He liked it!

Mom and Dad spent their actual anniversary, Jan 19, going to the temple, eating chinese food, reading their letters again, and then curling up with their quilts to re-watch their video.

We love you Mom and Dad!!!!