Hopefully I will be able to get some events that went on since may recorded in here... what a wild, fun and memorable summer we had! In July we drove all the way across the country from D.C. to Utah then down to TX and back. The kids were fantastic travelers! More on our summer vacation another day. We went back to UT again in October to celebrate my parents 50th anniversary. Compared to driving, the flight felt blissfully short on the way there (despite the 3 hour layover) but the red eye back was not at all enjoyable...never again will I do a red-eye with a 3 yo and an infant in lap..ugh. At the time the amount of $$ saved seemed worthwhile ... during the flight not so much. It was a lovely time and we were so glad we have been blessed to be able to go out there and be with family twice this year. We love it here in D.C. but its hard to be so far away from any family.
My siblings and I decided to throw a party for my parents... staying married for 50 years and still going strong, they are amazing! Here they are 50 years ago:
And now:
I hope I age as well as my parents have.. they look great!We had the party at the Chateu in Le Jardin... wow gorgeous place! My sister made this very delicious and beautiful Guava cake:
My brother knew some guys who do old Hawaiian music...we so enjoyed having them there providing our music.
The food was sooo yummy. It was a good thing we had a bit smaller turn-out than expected..many people went back for seconds...and thirds! We had the cake, tropical sherbets and fruit kabobs along with raspberry/lemon water. One of my nieces is quite the artist and carved that beautiful melon centerpiece.
The older grandkids were pro's at running the food operation, the younger grandkids did clean-up duty and passed out party favors. I love how well my family works together to make events like these a success. I guess it is to be expected since we grew up helping mom at times with her Catering business - she trained us well.
My youngest brother made a fantastic slide show of our family from over the years.. it was just fantastic and a priceless treasure to have. My parents also displayed lots of pictures and other memorablia from over the years. Some photos from our younger days:
Here is Sam with two of her favorite cousins... they are pretty inseparable during family functions. They look so beautiful here... one thinks what amazingly lovely young ladies they are becoming...
then this.
Here we are at the end of the event.... Can you find Mandi under all those Leis? Hint, she is NOT wearing blue.
Emma finds a quite moment to energize on a giant pile of tablecloths.
Lizzie is worn out by the end and falls happily asleep in her favorite cousin's arms.
My biggest regret is that I had to spend so much time keeping Xander out of trouble that I got very little time to take pictures... My parents looked wonderful and it was so fun to see people we grew up with and have not seen for years. Definitely an event to remember!
