Saturday evening celebration

Mama and Daddy will celebrate 60 years of marriage on August 4.  We had talked about having an anniversary celebration closer to their actual day, but when we realized that so many people we love so dearly would already be here the week before, we decided to merge the two celebrations.  So, on Saturday night of the family reunion we also celebrated Mama and Daddy's 60th wedding anniversary.  What a joyful evening of celebration!

We had hoped to have this event in Mama and Daddy's front yard, but the heat and humidity were brutal that day so we moved it into our house at the last minute.  Although we were truly packed in there, the evening was a success and everything worked out well.

group at dining table

group in living room

we even set up tables in the mud room...

and had several brave folks outside in the heat!

Brianna and Rachel presented Daddy and Mama with the beautiful family tree of names.

Following the presentation of the family tree of names, Jackson and Brianna performed Mama and Daddy's 'song' for them.  It is "Look At Us' which was originally sung by Vince Gill.  The story behind the song is that during the summer of 1992, when Daddy had to spend several weeks at Harvard in a leadership course, he heard that song play on the radio.  He went out and purchased a cassette just so that he could sit and play it over and over.  He eventually got all the lyrics written down and then sent them to Mama as a love letter.  Have I mentioned what a romantic my Daddy is?  :)  And what a special moment to surprise them with Jackson and Brianna's rendition.  A perfect moment!

John Howard (at the end of the table) was pretty pleased with himself and his gift to Daddy....  :)

Truly 'sugar free' chocolate - it was empty!!  :)

the stunning cake designed and baked by dear Krissy   

Pradip, Brenden, and Margaux

peach night!  :)  Julie, Mama, Anna, Tina

James, Shana, Dominik

Diane and Julie

We had lots of time for music Saturday evening.

Lots of singing!!

Here is a video with snippets from the music of Saturday evening.

Lavonne and Liz

Kerry and Susanna

Daddy was so happy that he was able to surprise Mama with an anniversary gift that she really wanted.  She had spotted these rocking chairs in a camping magazine and wanted to order them for the camper.  Daddy laughed that he had to throw away the magazine so that he could buy them for her before she could do it!  Truly, she WAS surprised and was very excited to have them!

Joe and the rest had a special song for the family reunion.  One of our family favorites, Precious Memories.  What a lovely surprise for Daddy and Mama!

Mama and Daddy with the best seats in the house for the music.

You can see MANY more photos of Saturday (day and evening) by clicking this link.