You Are Cordially Invited

...to view photos from the party on Sunday that my sisters and I gave my parents for their 50th Wedding Anniversary!!!

Since I only took 149 pictures at the party and I want to remember all of this forever...it was quite difficult to narrow them down. So there you have your *WARNING*! It was a 'come & go' party and you might have to do just that to get through all of these photos!!!

This party was a HUGE deal for Troy and me (and my sisters, too!). I mean come on, FIFTY YEARS?!? Troy and I look at each other all the time and talk about 'forever'...we always say that forever is "a mighty long time"!!! Well, my friends, fifty years of marriage is a mighty long time itself!

50 Years is the GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY...

If you read my post from Sunday, you know that my mother did not get to have a cake at her wedding. She was hilarious in deciding what she wanted for the party...in fact, she said she was acting like ME when I chose MY wedding cake. Surely I wasn't particular & stubborn when it came to MY cake!!! I absolutely loved the cake...

I mean cakes...

Here were my little creations...

My sisters had not seen the video yet so they arrived early (to help, yeah right! ha ha!) and to watch the video. My parents chose the music for the video and Troy just had to have the first dance with my beautiful mother...

I love a theme!!!

I couldn't be more thankful for these two people...



Seriously I caught my favorite little guys by the cakes before any guests had even arrived!!!


Now for the real deal...

The Hostesses with the Mostesses (yes, we have the knives to cut the cake in our hands! Where were my house party girls?!?)...

Our precious little twin cousins, Davis & Lauren, arriving from Dallas...

Meet Patric, my cousin, from Dallas. He is a HOOT! He and his brother Mical are the closest things I have to brothers and believe you me, they've ALWAYS treated me like a little sister. Patric's arrival was hilarious...


This is the majority of my mother's wonderful Sunday School Class. The rest came with their husbands. These ladies are amazing. They do so much for each other and the church. They travel together...in fact, the first time my mom EVER left me was for a trip to San Francisco with them when I was in second grade! They are dear friends...

The teenagers...

The guests...I tried to take my parents' picture with everyone who came. There were neighbors, church friends, former work friends, long ago friends, traveling buddies, current friends, and lots of family...as I said before loved by many and love for many!

The 'middle' sister...my beautiful, tender hearted Michelle!

The oldest sister...my gorgeous & spunky Lynna, with her boys and Grandmother!

The baby of the family...or better yet, the OOPS!!!

Sweet Hadlee actually slept through most of the party!

CUZIN' LUVIN' at its Best...

What is it with my kids & the cakes?!? Haven't I taught them better?!? (NO!).

This is a photo of my sisters ACTING like they were helping at the party!!! I love those girls more than life itself...even if they just showed up and wrote me a check! (Truth be told...I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!)!!!

They are my sisters, my friends, and also like mothers to me...forever and always.

This baby was the first grandchild and my first 'true love'...Travis. Not so much a baby anymore, uh?

As I said in Sunday's post, my mom's brother gave her away at the wedding. Here is my dad trying to give her back fifty years later!!!

Not really, my Uncle Bill thinks my dad did a mighty fine job with his little sister...

"We are family. I got all my sistahs and me!" (One of my fave songs in the video!). Here are cousins, brother-in-laws, sisters, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles...

This is my Aunt Kitty & Uncle Ron with my parents. Kitty is my dad's sister. These four are close, close, close. My favorite story about them from when they were young was one night when they were all sitting around (with four young children I might add) and somebody said "Let's go to Vegas"?!? My dad said, "Allright...but I don't have good tires on my car." My uncle then said, "Hey, we just got new tires on our car." But his car wasn't big enough for everyone. SOOOO, the next morning they went to the 'filling station' and had my uncle's tires put on my dad's car. Both families and my grandmother headed out to Vegas that day. They ended up staying at the same hotel as Sonny & Cher AND meeting them!!!

Troy & Mom...(Troy is super close to his mom who was at the party as well...but boy does he love and care for my mom, too! Even calls her 'MOM')...

We played the video continuously during the party. When that got old, our next entertainer came out...

Daddy's Girls just as much as Mommy's Girls...

This was after the party when just the close family was left. Our little cousin Davis stood on his head for over 40 seconds!!! Notice our little gymnast trying to compete (this was out of her league though!)...

Hadlee gave up...Davis was awesome!!!

Just ask Troy, my family likes to have LOOOOONG good-byes...

MY FAMILY whom I love and don't know what I'd do without...

I can't thank of a better gift to give your children than the example of 50 years of marriage. It hasn't always been perfect...but my mom and dad have loved each other and loved us every single one of those days during the past 50 years. I couldn't be more grateful for the love, support and fun they have shown my sisters and me. Happy GOLDEN Wedding Anniversary, Mom & Dad!!! Have a blast on your anniversary trip to Europe in October!!!

The party was so fun!!!

Thanks for looking & sharing in our joy!!

Bye Bye...

And as Walker says..."Amen. Forever and Honest"!!!