A little about me and my family...

My photo
My love of people, photography and the world began as a child. My family moved a lot and taking pictures was my way of remembering friends, capturing special places or moments and holding them close. Becoming a wife and a mother has always been a dream of mine and I count my blessings daily. I started this blog shortly after our daughter, Yaya joined our family through the blessing of adoption. Its purpose was to share pictures and stories about our life with family and friends. Later, it shared our adoption journey to our second daughter, Baby Bird as well. Now that our family is complete I like to think of it as our family’s journal or life book. I'm passionate about life, my family and preserving our history one snapshot at a time. The thing that amazes me most is the abundance of beauty God blesses us with every day and in the simplest ways if only we take the time to slow down and appreciate them.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

What Life is All About

FAMILY
My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary early in July and to celebrate this wonderful milestone the entire family flew in from around the U.S. to throw them a party and celebrate.  It was so much fun seeing them smiling and enjoying the family they've built together.  I don't think they stopped smiling the entire weekend which was exactly what we hoped for.

Friday night and Saturday my dad rented the conference room at the hotel for the family to relax and gather together.  My parents also supplied TONS of food for everyone.  Mom and I decorated the room different both days which was so much fun.  We hope the little homemade touches gave the sterile room boost color and warmth. 

I also enjoyed catching up with my cousins, aunts, uncles and even very distant relatives I hadn't seen since I was a kid.  On my paternal side of the family I am the eldest of four grandchildren. I am also the only granddaughter.  I got to hold all my cousins when they were babies so it's a bit surreal for me to see them grown up with children of their own running around.  Is it really possible we're all adults now?!

Saturday night, I made sure to take some family photos at the restaurant before my grandparent's anniversary dinner and I thought I would share them here.

The guests of honor.

My dad, their eldest son.

My uncle, Kevin (their youngest) with Zeus and my second cousin Debbie.

My brother with his boys and his girlfriend and her boys.

Kevin's youngest son (my cousin) with his wife. 

Kevin's eldest son (my cousin) with his wife and daughter.  You might recognize her as Momma M in my side bar on the right.

My grandfather's little brother, Roger and his wife. 

My grandmother's great nephew (my second or third cousin) and his fiance. 

My grandfather with his brother and cousins. 
(As a little bonus, Dave (seen in the top Right of this photo) has researched our family's genealogy.
Turns out I'm Celine Dion's 10th cousin removed or something like that.  Which is pretty cool considering I'm one of her biggest fans.  WHO KNEW!)
 

My dad had a blast as "Master of Ceremonies."  He put together a raffle, a roast and a slide show with family photos from the last 60 years plus.

My grandmother's sister couldn't attend due to her terminal cancer but she made sure her love and presence were felt.  She put together a few hilarious gifts.  One gift bag represented my grandparents life when they were first married. The other held gifts that represented their life after 60 years.   

A sexy night gown with matching thong.

These boxer shorts said, "Tickle My Pickle." 

Bird and I bought these Bride and Groom Mickey Mouse ears for my grandparents when we were at Disney in March.  We had to make sure everyone knew it was their special weekend even at breakfast Sunday morning. 

I think it's safe to say everyone had a fun weekend and we're looking forward to celebrating their 70th in 10 years.

7 comments:

Nichole said...

Wow, 60 years! Happy Anniversary to them!!

Judging by the gag gifts, you have a pretty fun family :o)

Gramma 2 Many said...

I love it!! Such happy pictures. Ours will be in four years. (50th) Will you be here? Bring your camera. Love you:)

Bettina said...

That is awesome!!! Looks like it was a great time for all :)

Mama - "M" is for Mama Bear said...

Ohhhh my goodness, this was SOOOO much fun!! We were talking about it the whole drive home about how we were so glad we could see everyone, but wish we could do it more often.

Oh oh, I won the raffle for the wooden welcome sign Grandpa made - so cool! We totally missed the gag gifts since we had to take Belle back to the hotel, but holy canoli, their expressions were PRICELESS!

Btw, my hubby is the older bro. They are only 19 months apart though! :)

Again, wish we could get together a lot more often!!

Frizzy said...

Mama Bear,
I knew your hubby was the older bro. I just had a "mommy moment." Sorry about that. I fixed it. LOL

Karin @ 6byHisDesign said...

Family Photog Extraordinaire.
Love.

Mama - "M" is for Mama Bear said...

I knew that you knew, too. :) No biggie at all.

Karin, yes, thank goodness we have Frizzy to take such great pics for all of to remember these moments!