50th Anniversary Party

 On Saturday we attended the celebration for Bob and Sheila's 50th wedding anniversary.  (Bob and Sheila are our son in law Andy's parents)

Earlier in the week Sheila had a stress related heart attack.  She told me she was washing windows and one almost fell on her and she reached to catch it...later that night she had pain....and went to the ER.  They found no blockages but she had the enzymes in her blood.  She said she was feeling fine except she was real tired.  

Bob told the story about how they met in the summer of 1969...at a Fair ...Bob knew the guys in the band...they were playing  A Whiter Shade of Pale  by Procol Harum...when this cute gal asked him if he wanted to dance...six children later and many grandkids and they are celebrating 50 years together. 

The kids served a wonderful lunch; vegetables and dip, fruit, crackers, lunch meats, cheese and a number of different cupcakes...vanilla, chocolate, carrot and lemon.   The lemon ones were really good. 

There was a cute display of pants. 

I know that Noah and Adam got their pants for their first birthday.

It was a fun afternoon.  The celebration was held in a Community Center about two hours North of where we live in a little town called Goodridge population 138 and most all of the town showed up!  We didn't stay too long, we arrived early before everyone else, had a chance to talk with Sheila and Bob, sit with Noah, Adam and Jen for a bit...have lunch and we headed home.

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Party

We had a lovely gathering/party.

We gathered at a favorite eating establishment in the boonies.

The message is clear ...we are loved by many special people.

Our youngest daughter did a wonderful job with the decorations and preparations for the party all we did was show up!
Son In Law Andy was the MC of the Trivia Game..Who were the best man and maid of honor?  How large was their first home?  Where did they go to school and what were their majors?  Name their four Shetland Sheepdogs?  Name the grandchildren from shortest to tallest?  How many States have they lived in?  What kind of car did Far Guy say he should have never sold; model , make, year and color?   Which ride did Far Guy set up on a regular basis during the summers on Merriam's Midway Shows? What did we say was our greatest accomplishment?   Share a story...and they did.

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50 years and counting

Yesterday was calm.  We both worked on various activities.   I did some laundry, wrapped a few gifts, dusted, cleaned the bathroom...finished a "it would be nice to do last minute Christmas project"  Far Guy made his famous Chili Cheese Dip and Caramel Rolls....and we both had a nap.

Far Guy gave me the wood carving he has been working on for months.   It is a much appreciated gift...I know how long and hard he worked on getting it all just perfect!

Here are some photos as it was in progress.

Each flower petal was carved separately.

He loves to carve flowers. 

My gift to him was not very romantic...a can of special spray to help lubricate the automatic garage doors that are being a pain in the butt when it is cold.  They open just fine...getting them to close again is a real effort as most of the time they have to be pulled down.

Later today there is a family gathering...I have it on good authority that a Trivia game featuring us will be played. 
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Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary!

Well today is the day...fifty years ago at 2 o'clock in the afternoon we were married in Park Rapids Minnesota at St Johns Lutheran Church by the Pastor that made Far Guy promise to go to church every Sunday for the rest of his life during Confirmation.

The flowers have faded.

Wedding Bouquet and a Boutonniere

Our wedding party...December 20 1969.

From Left to right:  Karen (my aunt), Cathie my best friend in High School, Jan (Far Guys sister), Hilda (my cousin), me, Far Guy, Paul (Far Guys Friend), Frank (Far Guys friend, Carey (my brother), Kenny (my uncle)   Down in front we have Jill (my God Daughter and cousin), Julie (my sister) and the twins Karl and Kurt (my cousins).  The little girls were three years old and the little boys four years old.   Everyone in this photo is still alive except for my aunt Karen she died a few years ago.

We have a quiet day planned today with a bit of cooking.  Family will be coming later today and tomorrow.
Thank you for following along and for all your kind comments.

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The things we keep

That box of memories is no fancy box.  Do you recall a red three wheeled bike from from the early 1970's?  Marx Mini Wheel?  Red plastic with three black wheels and yellow handlebars. Well that was a Christmas Gift to our oldest daughter in 1974...and that is the box I used to pack up all the wedding memories.  Let me tell you that the contents of the box fit perfectly...all the little boxes fit inside only one way. 

Thank you cards.

And a box of napkins.

It is surprising that everything has withstood the test of time....including us...although we are a little worse for the wear.

On Friday December 19, 1969 a Groom's Dinner was hosted by Far Guy's parents at the Travelers Cafe in Park Rapids with our good friend and neighbor Arvilla cooking for the group.  It was cold...it was below zero.  The food must have been good...I cannot recall what we ate....neither can Far Guy...our best guess is chicken, steak or roast beef.  

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List and Guests

In the box filled with memories was a list of names and addresses...the invitation list.  239 names were on the list.  I went through the list... most of the guests present are now deceased. 

My Mother wrote out the list.

Our Guest Book has seen better days but the inside is perfect.

Fun to see all the old signatures...especially those whose handwriting I am familiar with.

I counted 165 guests not counting children.

The view from the balcony in the church.

A few years ago, I scanned all the photos in our wedding photo album and refreshed the colors a bit as they were getting faded....faded with time.

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Cake and White Roses

In that box of memories were many old treasures.

We had cake.  My Aunt Skip made the cake.  It was a white layer cake.  One main cake and several heart shaped cakes.

I think this bit of ribbon and lily of the valley was on the cake server.

 Ha!  Here is the proof that the sprig of ribbon and lily of the valley goes with the cake server.

This was a long stemmed white rose long ago....this might have been my sisters flower she was a flowergirl...she was 3 years old....although she broke the head off of her flower and reported it promptly to me...so maybe this was Far Guy's sisters flower., she was a bridesmaid.

Our 50th Anniversary is Friday the 20th.  My musings will probably continue until then. 

Our youngest daughter has "something" planned for the weekend.  I requested a simple family dinner.

Getting married so close to Christmas we hardly ever celebrate, when we were younger we didn't have the money for both so Christmas took precedence.   Last Christmas and New Years we celebrated by going to Hawaii....that will do us for a few years.

We are almost ready for Christmas here.  I am working on the Shiny Brite Tree Upstairs.  I froze that fudge I made...I could finally cut it into something that resembled a square piece!   Everyone that comes over is going home with fudge so we get rid of it! Christmas Gifts are ready.  Pumpkin Bread and Cinnamon Rolls should be made.  I consulted with Far Guy about his Christmas Gift so we ordered it, then he consulted with me and mine was ordered also...shopping at it's finest!

It snowed again and more snow was shoveled.

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It takes lots of cousins

In that box of memories I unearthed was a fancy apron.

I know it is a wrinkled mess but you get the idea. It was a sheer half apron that was short and had lace trim, it tied in the back. There was a bow and a bell on the pocket.

Year and years ago teenage cousins were asked to help serve the bridal table.  You know go for coffee refills and fetch extra napkins and make sure everyone had what they needed.  At our wedding the "waitresses" were my cousins;  Diane, Vickie and Max short for Maxine although most of the time we called her Zeeny.

In fact it took a village/lots of cousins to have a wedding reception in the church.  Far Guy had some cousins that helped out also and probably wore the pretty little aprons!

Coffee was poured...the gals sat at the end of the table and poured coffee from a silver service and presented the cup  on a small plate.  (Is that correct Bonnie? She reads my blog too!) Yes we had punch...but I do not recall the ice cream. (Sharon...she reads my blog... was there really ice cream?)

I think 400 people is a stretch...but there were lots of people on that cold December day.

Note:  50 years ago all the women that were married are a Mrs somebody...if you are married you lost your first name.
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Update From Sharon: Yes Connie, you did have ice cream and I was so nervous serving it because there were so many people! 

Update from Bonnie: I remember serving coffee on a fancy china plate☕️.

Silver and Gold

At Bingo on Thursday Charlene gave me an ornament...it is all folded paper!

It is just beautiful!  She said it was all made from heavy wrapping paper, some of the paper has a bit of a gold accent. 

Some things  don't turn out as planned.  My No Fail Fudge was a failure....who can mess up no fail fudge ...apparently me.   Jen took it anyway for the cookie exchange...they will just have to use spoons to eat it or warm it up for ice cream topping.  Sometimes you just have to make the best of circumstances. 

I went through a box of memories yesterday and photographed them....some things are over 50 years old and some things will be 50 years old next week.

These are candles that were used at our wedding...not sure where...in some arrangement for the tables is my best guess.

So there you have my Silver and Gold.

I am reminded of a round that I used to sing with my girls.  "Make new friends, keep the old, one is silver and the others gold." Trying to sing that round each singing our own part...singing louder and louder to drown out everyone elses voice and then laughing...then one of them would say lets try that again Mom.

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