let's just go back a few months....actually, nearly a year.... aunt claudia started trying to come up with ideas as far as how to celebrate the milestone. does that tell you how hard she worked? yeah. she kicked out a serious party. lots of ideas and a few months later, we settled on august 7th--an evening party at my parents with a tent set up viewing the river. nicole and aunt claudia planned out the decorations and it seriously looked like a wedding reception. it was so beautiful. everyone helped with something. we made skits, a slideshow, the cousins decorated, it was so fun. i found myself getting way too excited this week. we really don't do parties like this, so it was really fun to plan and watch it take shape. and at the start of the party, it was obvious we don't do parties like this.
a normal tally party commences with cousins slugging each other and the shrimp platter being devoured. well, we were all dressed up in khaki and white for the photo shoot and everything looked so pretty when we got there......it was like no one really knew what to do at first. then the shrimp platter became available and everything was alright. i even got punched a couple of times. that's when i knew everything was going to be okay. gramma and papa arrived looking stunning.... papa in khaki is something i personally have NEVER seen before. he pulled it off nicely. gramma really looked beautiful....she's always pretty and she really knows what compliments her style. we enjoyed some appetizers and grabbed some casual pictures and then it was time to sit for dinner.
off in the distance you could see a storm coming.... oh, boy. we sat down and started eating our delish dinner.... michigan cherry salad--oh. my. word. so good. seriously. after salad, papa and gramma started reading some "grankid memories". we all wrote down a favorite time with each one of them and they had to read them and guess which kid it was. then came the rain... and the lightning! we decided to just go inside until the lightning passed since the tent had about 12 metal poles connecting us to the ground and just begging for a zap. but it turned out perfect b/c we went in and watched the skits on the tv while the storm went over. in the amount of time it took to watch the skits, the worst of the storm was over and we could see clear skies coming our way. and bonus: the storm drove away all the gnats that were pestering us during salad. it was perfect. it was so neat to see how God works out such tiny details... b/c those gnats were tiny, but man were they ANNOYING. we were all walked back out to the tent under umbrellas, which was kind of fun, and then we continued dinner and grandkid memories. dinner was SO GOOD. aunt claudia even thought of making connor and ava a special plate of pbj and veggies for dinner and goldfish, cheese and apples while we all had salad. connor loved it. he did, however, have to ask for ketchup for his carrots.....what a weird kid. and i have to mention that daniel also got a kids plate during salad..... what a weird kid.
then it was time for pictures, which i will say went really well. i always get nervous when we do professional pictures with our family. we don't do it often.....probably for the best. but it went really well. everyone cooperated (everyone being the little ones...even meg for the most part). after that we had more memories, cake and then watched the skit and slide show dvd. the original four kids all said something nice which was really a touching tribute to my grandparents and to God's goodness to our family through the years. then came the sad part..... the party was over. we had to clean up all the pretty table cloths, napkins, decorations, everything. i had looked so forward to the whole thing i was really bummed when it was over. but it was a great memory. i have to say, as late as we went, connor, ava and liela did really well. connor did say some funny things though. when the pictures were winding down connor looked at gramma sanders and said, "gramma i have an idea.... how 'bout no more pictures!" he's not used to so much smiling! :) and as the party came to a close i was snuggling meg in a blankie--it was surprisingly chilly--connor plopped his head on my lap and said, "mom, can i go to bed now?" he was all partied out.
three cheers for aunt claudia! and a job well done by everyone else. it was a great party.
i love my grandparents. they have been a God-fearing family, with emphasis on all three parts. serving and fearing God is foremost. family is the only other thing. 'stuff' doesn't matter. it never has. serve God and love Him. teach your kids the same. love your family, and let that flow to others.
the fabulous decorations
the fire pit transformed
didn't they do such a good job??
the "help" as we called them, getting last minute instructions. they were FABULOUS! thanks, ladies.
the guests of honor arrive.... and catch a quick smooch. i can only imgine what collin is thinking. haha!
see? papa can totally pull off khaki!
the cake topper arrived a little late, but uncle paul and josh saved the day.
the original cake top from their wedding... and apparently, nicole's too. guess i wasn't paying much attention to her cake. sorry, nic.
the party scene--looking good!
50 wonderful years
i told gramma to get some icing and give me a goofy face... she smiled too nicely.
the lovelies
there's a punch! let the party begin!
here we are eating our shrimp... so, now we really knew what to do. EAT!
i wonder if they remember i'm over here in this corner of the tent.
nice, rick.
don't i have cute cousins?
probably b/c i have cute aunts and uncles.... here are some now. i'm probably getting my toes popped for calling uncle david cute.
more cute cousins and one hottie.... no dill, i am NOT calling you a hottie.
nathan just said something rude to laura so she's shooting him with laser eyes and josh is cracking up.
here's daniel and ava with their kids plates.
dinner was so good! and everything was just nice.
there's NO business like SHOW business.......
getting the cousins organized for a grandkid picture... the photographer did pretty good with so many people and little ones.
classic 4-d pose
keep the smiles coming, fella. you've got a few more shots to go.
gramma sanders, i have a idea for you: no. more. pictures.
chee-he-he-he-he-heeese! are we DONE???
li was tuckered out. laura apparently has the same baby abilities that her mom has. baby whisperer #2.
2 comments:
What a gorgeous party! Way nicer than my wedding reception! I bet the table set up made it easy for everyone to chat too. What a wonderful family memory!
Yeah, I didnt even cut my cake so don't worry about not noticing it. I didn't want to feed eachother at our wedding. I thought that was a stupid tradition.
Post a Comment