Anniversary Celebration

Summer is almost over.  We did make it to the ocean.

Once.  And maybe going again this Tuesday while Stewart is in town.

EmmaDean & Stewart came to celebrate grandparent's 50th anniversary.

It's a big deal to get John & all his sisters together.

And all the grandkids, minus Suzanna--on a church mission in Portugal!

Sam will leave in a month to serve in Mesa, Arizona LDS mission!

EmmaDean left this morning, back to work in Utah.

Stewart will stay with us another week.

Roxie is gearing up for school as a sophomore.  People ask all the time when she graduated, or what college she is attending.

My beautiful children!

Nice to have time together.

John is always obliging to kiss in public.

The End

Pie Night Royalty

I have a sister who is the Pie Queen!  Nobody I have met makes quite as good of pies as Laurajane.  Delicious crust, wonderful fillings, and points for quantity.  Although Roxie's favorite was a cheesecake pie Uncle John made, Sam and I loved Laura's blueberry Uncle Blen pie, and John and I loved the amazing PECAN pie, lots of pecans!  10 pies, 2 bacon broccoli quiches that we ate with dinner, chocolate chip bar cookies and Aunt Luanna's fudge shack walnut maple fudge (very, very popular among boy-cousins).

Queen Laurajane (her hair is half way down her back again, grows fast! And Randy lost 60 lbs since March not eating sugar) made a sugar-free pumpkin that was perfect and a sugar-free cherry, too.  Gracious host, serving everyone before they sat down to enjoy pie.  They have a perfect party house, lots of open space and comfortable for chatting.  I was sobered thinking of their short stay on east coast is ending...they won't be here next Thanksgiving season.  Maybe we will have an Easter Pie Night???

Earlier that day Roxie had state choir auditions (this is her new warm favorite coat).  And yes, not one, but three books to take to read in the car, so she could finish one and move on to the next...

John made serious salad.  In a tupperware bowl exactly like ours.  We retrieved a missing salad fork!  Funny how things can go from house to house!

Brother John has groovy socks.

Zoe cracked us up with her attention to ME, the non-dog petter.  She would come and creep up into my lap.

Wished I had gotten a photo of Sam playing with cousin Dallin.  They were funny to watch!  And the NARWHALE challenge game!  They were so funny, this group of cousins cheering each other on.

Pie Night:  a dinner before Thanksgiving where you gather and just eat pie!  Mom told us about the family tradition someone had started so they could eat with family, and friends, and have the pie be a separate meal to enjoy, not just when you are stuffed with turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving day.  We have had various iterations through the years, even held it on a local church level (when I was YW pres and John was YM president it was a youth activity a couple of years in a row, organized by us).

Laura is famous as Pie Queen for the Thanksgiving year we gathered in Cranberry with a pie per person---28 pies?  Crazy fun wonderful good memories.

We Will Try This Space

Cousins in the kitchen.  He came and knocked on our door and we had to get a picture.

Happy Birthday Sam with reversible felt crown, dumplings, sauteed mushrooms, raspberry jello salad, green salad was his dinner choices!

Chocolate, chocolate cake with chocolate chips inside and on top, as requested.

Painting project behind photos of our children...

Left side and

...right side of space.  Yes, it glows in the dark.

The Celebration!

Thanks to Emma & Dean for music and flashing DJ lights for celebration dance!  Dean was great at choosing songs that were popular when my parents got married, throwing in music for the younger cousins, making sure there were enough slow songs for aunts & uncle couples to dance to...An hour was just right.

Stewart carried down rolling chairs for Mom & Dad to sit on, but they stayed in the middle of the dancing, spinning each other.

 

Then they blew out 50 candles in JohnB's amazing two-pan black bottom cake!

There is still a month and a half until the actual wedding date anniversary, but this summer was the only time we could gather almost all of us (before YW camps, Scout camps, band camps...).  Dad insisted that if you would have come to his funeral last spring (close call) please come to his reunion celebration while he is still alive.

I am thankful for parents who love each other and have worked hard to have a good marriage.  And thankful for siblings who have found good spouses and their beautiful children so easy for me to love!  It was a good reunion.

Email me or make a note in comments for details on how we did food for 56 for 4 days.

Did I mention the lake? Bear Lake

Sam with cousins.

Nephew Jack "fishing" after our adventure finding a place to pee.

Successfully getting nephew Evan to take a nap so his parents could jet ski.

Suzanna on deck overlooking lake & rainbow after storm.

We had a great family reunion 7 years ago at Virginia Beach.  My parents rented a home right on the beach, and it was wonderful being able to play in the water.

The Bear Lake cabin was further from the water, but close enough.  The cabin was AMAZING, huge, many slides, almost enough rooms for all of us.  Could have used a few more bathrooms, more eating space.  Everyone was good about taking off shoes before coming in, and keeping food only on tiled kitchen, dinning area, and decks.  The kids never got tired of the slides! 

Thank you, Mom & Dad, and Happy 50th Anniversary!

Crochet Wire Necklaces, Cousins, Inside Out Smore Brownies

I've been having way too much fun making crocheted-wire necklaces with buttons, pearls, felted wool beads

Double Cousin baptism!

Proof that I met one of my favorite authors! (World Con in the 80's)

I saw this recipe on Pin-trist: inside out s'more brownies.  I used marshmallow cream instead of mini marshmallows and added chocolate chips to center layer.  Tasty.