Life at Willis Creek Ranch

Friday, August 1, 2014

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.

Family Reunion - Saturday

Saturday morning began with coffee on the front porch for Uncle Ernest, Daddy and others. :)

Then many headed into town to take a tour of Truman's campus. The first stop was Julie's office which hosts a wealth of historical information and memorabilia, both of campus history and of family. One of my favorite things is this photo of the class of 1930 summer session students. My great aunt Dora Mae is on the front row of this photo. What a time this must have been. This was the summer session that followed the crash of the stock market in the winter of 1929. They truly had no idea what the future held in store for them.

Julie showing the photo in her office that includes Aunt Dora Mae on the front row. :)

I was so glad the group on the Truman tour stopped to take this photo. :) We have a lot of photos over the last several years at this very spot. All are special.

And, of course, they had to get a photo with the north gate entrance of Truman campus. This special stone was erected in 1996 in conjunction with the name change of the university from Northeast Missouri State University to Truman State University (during Daddy's tenure as President). The back side has all the names the university has had over time - 7 in all - ending with Truman State University. But the front has a quote dear to Daddy's heart. He first encountered it at the entry to Harvard Yard at the Harvard library back in 1992. He was thrilled to be able to incorporate it into this area of campus in 1996. The quote is...

"Enter to grow in wisdom. Depart better to serve your country
and thy kind." Charles W. Eliot

Following that tour, the group expanded and moved on to the new dental school at A.T. Still University.

This first picture was taken by Jackson.

We were able to ask a young woman who walked by to take this 2nd photo so Jackson could be in it.

Brianna, Jackson, Rachel, Hannah

Charles and Daddy - brothers!

A quote on display at ATSU, too - this one is Daddy's! :)

That afternoon Rachel completed the work on the special surprise gift for Mama and Daddy's anniversary celebration... a family tree of names. Brianna had prepared the canvas with a lovely border, onto which Rachel free hand wrote all the names of the children and grandchildren, along with a verse from Mama and Daddy's song, "Look At Us". I have to say that the reality of this project far exceeded even my wildest expectations! What an incredibly beautiful job!! Wow!! Amazing!!

You can see many more photos from Saturday (day AND evening) by clicking this link.

2014 Family Reunion - Friday night

We had the great pleasure of hosting the annual family reunion out here at Willis Creek Ranch. We truly do look forward to this event with much anticipation and excitement! And we so appreciate the efforts that are made by everyone to travel and get together. It is not necessarily an easy thing to commit to year after year, and yet the reward is so very worth it. The memories that are made and the bonds that are strengthened can actually help sustain us throughout the rest of the year. I am so grateful and thankful for my special family.

One surprise was that James was able to get home for the reunion. We truly never expected that he would be able to get away. But, late Thursday night Julie got a phone call from him saying he had an unexpected 4 day leave and would get on a flight early the next morning. James landed at the airport within 30 minutes of cousin David landing at the same airport, and together they traveled up here Friday afternoon. How absolutely marvelous!!

Our home was a gathering place Friday afternoon and evening as people started rolling into town. By 6:00 pm we had a pretty good crowd and were able to share a meal together. There was a lot of visiting, laughing, and telling of stories. Exactly what a good family reunion is made of!

group in dining room

group in living room

This was neat... Jane and Dorothy discovered that they were wearing the same watch. My Aunt Carolyn left it to Jane, her daughter, after she passed away in November 2012. Carolyn and Dorothy had purchased them together; they were always such good and close friends/cousins. Then Charlotte, also Carolyn's daughter, was wearing a ring that had been passed down from Minnie Mitchell Wood. All special and emblematic of remarkable women of our family.

Jane, Charlotte, and Dorothy

the two watches, and the ring with MW inscribed on it

Julie, Megan, and Melina

What a happy moment this was to see Matthew and Anna again! You might remember they left at the beginning of summer to go to Oklahoma for an internship for Matthew. What a marvelous opportunity, but it was sure good to see them Friday evening and have them back home! I took this photo of them in the same spot as the last photo I had taken of them back in May. :)

Matthew and Anna

We were especially glad that our cousin, Liz, was able to join us for this reunion. Her daughter Margaux and Margaux's boyfriend, Brenden, were also able to come. What a blessing to have the opportunity to reconnect with them!!