Sat. 9/9/23, 50th Party for us today! Many dear family members and friends came to celebrate with us. Everything was so nice.Thanks to our wonderful family who helped so much!

We were blessed with so many family members and friends coming to our 50th Anniversary Party.  We were blessed to have those we have been friends with a long time and also a short time, who are dear to our hearts and so special to us.  God has blessed us with each other and with all these who we love and were so happy to celebrate with.  

Stuff packed up and ready to load for party

Kimmy and Jared setting up dessert table.  Melissa putting confetti on each table.

Everything ended up looking beautiful

Eli and Jack working on blowing up balloons and putting them as a border for people to know what room the party was in.  It was Bill's idea!

Peyton helping too!  They all did great.  I wish I would have taken a picture.  It looked beautiful when they got done.  It came all the way from that door to where Peyton was.

We were so thankful we had the balloon blower for the kids to use to blow up all those balloons.

Eli, Evan and Jack

We ended up getting done a half hour early and it looked amazing!  Thank you everyone who did such a great job helping!

 

 

 

Bill and I at our 50th! So thankful for our 50 years of married life together

I love this picture of my sister Brenda and my Best Friend Vikki looking at our wedding picture album

Sue, Charlie, me and Bill...great friends

Without us knowing, Vikki put metal knives in the center of the tables so people could hit them on the Mason jars.  We of course had to kiss.

Dave and Terry on left. Me talking to Merijo behind them, Jen, Brad, Greg Young, Roy behind him, Lew, Wes, Joel, Gayla and Cindy on far right

Brenda, Vikki E. Dave, Terry and Pat...plus the same people above at the first table

Barb and Ron

Stacie and the Paws for a Cause dog she is helping train

Bev, Ron, Barb and Ron

Amy, Dennis, Dennis Watkins, Jim and Marsha. Bill in the background talking to Debbie and Dale

Maddy, Brielle, James and Diane

Eli, Jack and Evan...those are the knives Vikki put on each table

Debbie, Dale, Bill, and Mary Eaton.  Dale Honold was in our wedding 

Vikki and Marie

Peyton, Rody, Charlie, and Sue

Adam photo bombing us

Terry, Vikki, me and Bill

Vikki, Bff Vikki who Vikki is named after, me and Peyton

Peyton, Vikki, Vikki, me, Melissa and Kimmy

Kimmy, Vikki, Brenda, me, Bill, Melissa and Dave

Dave, Brenda, me and Bill

Brenda, Melissa, Kimmy and Vikki

Mary and Mike Eaton, me and Bill

Me and Kim Gager looking at my wedding dress.  She said hers was a lot like it.

 

Bob, Tim and Cathy seated, Jan, Bill, me, Gary and Kim standing

Sabrina, me, Bill and Bill Smith

Bill, me, Debbie and Matthew

Me, Bill and Debbie with beautiful 50th ornaments she gave us

Jared and Melissa relaxing in the chairs we got from Pam and Fred.  They thought they were really comfortable and we should set them up when we celebrate Christmas.

We got ready for the party, then left to go decorate at noon.  Kimmy and Jared were picking up the courage and boutonniere for us.  I had given them the receipt and let the place know they were picking them up.  They called and Kimmy said they mistakenly put Sat. Sept. 30 on it instead of making it for today.  It was a friend from church who wrote down my order.  I had told her this Saturday and we could pick it up in the morning.  She is really sweet and must have been used to writing homecoming dates for Freeland down.  Bummer!  Kimmy and Jared were going to wait for them to make one, but we needed them to help decorate and the lady said they would have to stay there instead of Jared coming back to pick it up because they close at noon.  Bill and I told them to just leave. 

We all met at the church and started decorating and setting stuff out.  Jared, Kimmy and Bill left for a while.  Jared even went in a Bridal store to see if they made corsages.  So sweet of him.  Bill came back with two boutonnieres from Kroger, one red and one white.  One for him and one for me.  He thought we could make a corsage out of one of them and he would wear the other.  That didn't work, but was very sweet of him.  We ended up just going without.  Kimmy and Jared got my refund, so we saved $40.  

At two, just about everyone came at the same time which was nice.  The caterer set out a fruit plate and a veggie and dip plate for people to be eating before the meal.  It was really good.  They set up the food on tables in the hallway and then we all prayed and ate.  Bill had Dennis Ward, a dear friend and now a Chaplain, pray.  Bill married him and his wife Amy.

He prayed such a wonderful prayer.  We all ate and the food was super delicious.  The caterers even offered to carry our salad plates or regular plates if we wanted them to.  Then they came around and poured coffee for us.  They also picked up our plates when we were done with them.  They were so nice and went out of their way to make everything so nice for us.  After everyone had eaten, they picked up the food and put it away in tins in the refrigerator.  The two ladies had to leave, and the 22 year old granddaughter stayed and when a few couples came in late, she got the stuff out and made plates for them and heated them in the microwave.  Bill's sister Debbie came 15 minutes after the party ended and she even made her a plate.  She also helped pack up our dessert table for us and cleaned the whole kitchen.  Then she told us we could take all the food home with us.  We were just amazed at how great a job they did and how kind they were.  A friend of ours who was there knew the caterer and had gone to youth group with her daughter.  We were happy to find out they were Christians, because they were sure showing the love of Jesus!

I sat down with Debbie and Matthew for 5 minutes, then Vikki sat with them for a while.  Then she and Matthew left and the rest of us hurried and started putting chairs and tables away and picking up everything and packing it up.  Bill, Rody and Jared were just amazing helping so much.  Bruce had to take Max and Vader home.  Melissa, Kimmy and Vikki were all amazing helpers too.  The kids were all great helps hauling all the stuff to the vehicles.  What a great day it was!  We all came to our house afterward and some of us ate again.  Then we opened our cards.  We had opened our gifts at the party because we had 3 people requesting we do that.  It was nice hanging out and relaxing together.  I sure love my family.