Thankfully I have a sister who is organized AND creative so we decided to throw them a little bash on November 24th to celebrate their huge accomplishment!!
We had a family tree theme and Shelly found these branches (on the side of my house from a recent pear tree annihilation, but that's a whole 'nother story) and she painted them gold and added photos and decorations:
Zach sketched this tree which we used for a guest book. . .
Each guest pressed a thumb into an ink pad, left their mark somewhere on the tree and then signed next to the print. It was beautiful!
Our colors were purple and gold mostly because the church we held the reception at had beautiful new purple table cloths. It worked out great!!
Original cards from the wedding 50 years ago, lovingly arranged by Ethan. . .
The reception was held on a Saturday from 10 am to noon so we had a brunch menu with all kinds of yummy things on it. (I have to give Shelly credit for just about everything on here- she came up with the menu and all of the fun ideas on how to make it happen. Did I mention I'm so thankful that she's organized and creative and that she just lets me come alongside to help carry out the plan??)
These are "fruit pizzas". They are snickerdoodle cookies with cream cheese frosting topped with blueberries and strawberries. They were delicious!
Veggies. . .
Fruit. . .
Yummy cupcakes. . .
NON-ALCOHOLIC wine. . .
Frosty punch. . .
We were pleasantly surprised that EVERYONE we invited, with the exception of the out-of-towners, showed up!! It was a full house!!!
Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. This is my Uncles Gary and Gale (my mom's brothers) talking to Rob. . .
This was my favorite aunt growing up. Aunt Pat was always willing to sit and listen to my adolescent self talk about my latest adolescent problems. . .
My dad's cousins were there. We usually only see them at funerals so this was a really nice change! We always seem to take up where we left off. . .
I think my mom enjoyed herself. . .
This is my dad's Uncle Marvin. When I was growing up, my grandma Violet (my dad's mom) would take us to see Marv and JoAnn just about every time we would visit her. They had a cozy house with a swinging wooden back porch door that would bang shut no matter how hard you tried to stop it. They were some of the most interesting people I knew growing up. Marv had tattoos, they both smoked and (probably) drank. They were kind of loud and brash and their house always had interesting smells. I loved visiting them. My Aunt JoAnn died a few years ago and I had the privilege of singing at her funeral. This was the first time I had seen Marv and his boys since then. We always vow to get together more often but, then, we never do.
This is my Uncles, Dennis and Gary, two (out of four) of my mom's brothers. . .
This next photo just makes me smile every time I look at it. My mom and dad have been friends with these other two couples for as long as I can remember. I would guess that they have only missed a handful of New Year's Eve parties together and they continue to get together on a regular basis to play games, laugh and (probably) commiserate over their children and grandchildren. Neil and Carol are on the left (I married their son, Scotty, in Kindergarten) and Marlene and Marlin are on the right (so many good memories of time spent with them that it would take another post to even begin!):
This is just one of several pictures taken before they could stop laughing and just smile for the camera!!
This is Lloyd's wife, Sherry, signing the guest book with a little direction from my Aunt Rachel who is followed by one of my favorite cousin's, Sharron. . .
Everyone seemed to be happy to be there and to have the opportunity to catch up with family and friends. . .
Of course, we had to take some family pictures. These are the Kearns:
I've debated about including this next set of pictures but, really, I would be remiss not to. So, just to clarify: this EMPTY bottle contained NON-ALCOHOLIC wine:
This is my precious girl. She is all Sweetness and Light. . .
Except for when she's not. . .
These four cousins have always been close. Except for the years that Gloria and Ethan seemed to hate each other, but hey, they love each other now, so it's all water under the bridge!!!
All I wanted was a sweet photograph of my kids with my sisters kids. . .
Shouldn't be that difficult, right??
Wrong. . .
On so many levels. . .
But, at least it was entertaining!!!
I bought my parents a photo album that says:
"Family, all because two people fell in love".
I know that I can think of at least 4 reasons that I'm grateful that they did!!
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