My Dad singing "Little Things Mean A Lot" to my Mom on their wedding day
Saturday was my parent's 40th wedding anniversary, and we spent the whole weekend celebrating! It was so fun planning it with my siblings....although the number of minutes we used on our phone was embarrasing. What a wonderful celebration that brought us all so much closer as siblings, spouses and children. My dad wrote an email yesterday that said, "...thank you for making us feel loved and to more deeply honor our marriage." I think the whole weekend helped all of us "more deeply" honor our own marriages. As we enjoyed our evening out on Saturday for the dinner party, it was surprisingly romantic for not only my mom and dad for also for Jay and I. I think I can speak for the rest of us that it was a nice romantic evening. We talked about Mom and Dad's courtship, engagement and marriage. The restaurant was absolutely beautiful, warm, inviting, old music playing, dimly lit, and just perfect! Not to mention, there was a party in my tummy (so yummy, so yummy!). Steak has never tasted so melt-in-my-mouth delicious before! Before I get ahead of myself here's how the whole weekend went down...
I had to put a picture of some of the food we ate...yeah...it tasted as delicious as it looks. YUM!
We missed Nathan and Thayne and their wives, Lindsay and Lanae!
40 years, 7 children, 26 grandchildren. Here we are on Sunday-minus 4 adults and 7 children. 
As my Dad was sharing his thoughts at the beginning of our dinner Saturday, he said that the biggest thing he remembers about those 40 years is "How much FUN we've had!". But my mom very quickly added, "And work!! Don't forget the work!" We all thought that was so funny. Love this family! Yeah thats me with the bad perm.
Saturday
We (the 5 of us + spouses that live here) surprised Mom (Dad was in on some of this) at Donovan's Steakhouse in Phoenix. We had our own private dining room reserved and it was amazing! What a great evening - lots of pictures, laughing, some crying, singing, music, lots more laughing, and last but not least the best food! It was SO nice not having any kids with us, it's rare for all the adults to get together. It was so hard to keep this all a secret but we managed to pull it off. My mom was very surprised! We had a program with Brit and I singing, Kimball paying tribute, poems by Jordan and Nathan, a video from Thayne and Lanae, sweet words from Dad, a DVD presentation by Bryan, and a song sung by all the brothers. We had flowers, program, place settings, pictures, gift bags, the works...I have to say the evening went perfect!
We (the 5 of us + spouses that live here) surprised Mom (Dad was in on some of this) at Donovan's Steakhouse in Phoenix. We had our own private dining room reserved and it was amazing! What a great evening - lots of pictures, laughing, some crying, singing, music, lots more laughing, and last but not least the best food! It was SO nice not having any kids with us, it's rare for all the adults to get together. It was so hard to keep this all a secret but we managed to pull it off. My mom was very surprised! We had a program with Brit and I singing, Kimball paying tribute, poems by Jordan and Nathan, a video from Thayne and Lanae, sweet words from Dad, a DVD presentation by Bryan, and a song sung by all the brothers. We had flowers, program, place settings, pictures, gift bags, the works...I have to say the evening went perfect!
Sunday
We woke up early and went to my parent's church at 9am. We took a big family picture afterwards and served everyone a yummy lunch. My mom and dad weren't allowed in the kitchen because they are always slaving away cooking and cleaning so I think they deserved a nice break. We surprised them with a BBQ grill we all chipped in on and just hung out the rest of the day. We were so worn out and beat by Sunday night, talk about a family hangover. What a perfect weekend~thanks everyone for your many contributions!
They sat my Dad and Mom down and then slid open the doors to our dining room. Surprise!
I had to put a picture of some of the food we ate...yeah...it tasted as delicious as it looks. YUM! We missed Nathan and Thayne and their wives, Lindsay and Lanae! 40 years, 7 children, 26 grandchildren. Here we are on Sunday-minus 4 adults and 7 children. As my Dad was sharing his thoughts at the beginning of our dinner Saturday, he said that the biggest thing he remembers about those 40 years is "How much FUN we've had!". But my mom very quickly added, "And work!! Don't forget the work!" We all thought that was so funny. Love this family! Yeah thats me with the bad perm.
6 comments:
Oh this picture at the end is too funny! That's how old your family was when we were around! Tell your parents congrats on 40 years!
Sounds like quite the party! Wish we could have been there to celebrate. You guys are awesome!
Your family seems awesome!I bet your parents loved it!! And you look great in those pictures!!
hey ash- what a tribute to your incredible parents. it made me want to tear up. i love and adore them
I am so happy for them and you, that they have been together 40 years.
Your parents are so cute! I've always loved them!!!
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