50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration
Excerpts From My Journal
Our celebrations continue…
Friday, July 1
The first activity of the day was a “Guided Courtship Tour” so David and I could show our family where we dated in Provo and where we lived when we were first married! Our tour began at BYU where we bought ice cream cones for everyone at the Cougareat. It was a great bonding experience to walk together across campus and other places in Provo in our matching yellow and blue t-shirts, which were our wedding colors! Such a long, fun afternoon!
The second activity was getting a big family picture of our large family group and also individual family pictures. It’s not easy to get that size of a group together for a picture and have everyone smiling at the same time. When the two little ones started crying, my niece Jessica, who was wearing a bright red dress, got out in front of the family and behind the photographer. She started dancing back and forth and singing and talking to them until they stopped crying! (I wish I could have had a video of her performance because as a mother of five children, she knew exactly what to do!)
The third activity was the “BIG CELEBRATION”— 50th wedding anniversary party!!!
Because we had a western theme for our celebration, most people did dress western. Michelle had the whole cultural hall decorated with an amazing western flair, including bales of hay and a saddle! Everything was awesome! The food was all delicious and looked beautiful! The “memorabilia” table, which included my sister Jaynie’s wedding dress and veil that I wore at my wedding and other mementos of our lives, was a favorite spot for people to enjoy all night!
First, we all visited together and ate dinner, which was a casual affair of chili, breads, fruits, veggies, chocolate cake, and Crumbl cookies—some of our favorite foods!
Second, we had a musical program that consisted of nine songs, which different family members sang:
My Cup Runneth Over with Love, I’ll Write You a Love Song, Can’t Help Falling in Love with You, Every Family is Different, The Love of Children, Because We are a Family, I Know That My Redeemer Lives, Count Your Many Blessings, and Love at Home.
Third, we had a dance party! I called the party, "Dancing Through Time.” It included a variety of old, fun dances and our favorite songs from each decade! The big surprise for the evening was when David and I changed from our jeans and western shirts into our western, formal “dancing clothes” for our first dance, which was called, “I Hope You Dance.” Everyone was so shocked as we walked onto the dance floor when the DJ started playing our song! We wish we could have had a video of everyone’s faces as we watched them stare at us in disbelief, saw their eyes light up, and then heard them all suddenly start cheering and clapping for us! It was a memorable moment for our whole family! David and I loved looking into each other’s eyes as we danced and felt the joy and love of our posterity all around us!
The rest of the evening was so much fun as we watched everyone dancing to some of David and my favorite songs and having such a good time! Dancing has always been my favorite activity, and so I was so happy to see how the joy of dancing had been passed down to my children and grandchildren!
Saturday, July 2
Because I wanted to have a professional recording of my song, “Because We Are a Family,” we went to a recording studio from 10 AM - 12 PM. David and I were joined by our children Andrew, Ben, Annie, Elizabeth, Rebekah, Angela, Matt, and Michelle. We had a lot of laughs together as we tried to sing our best! When we were finished with the recording, some of our family members then drove up to Cody to join us for our 4th of July activities.
Sunday, July 3, 2022
We went to Church, and David and I both bore our testimonies during Sacrament meeting. We are both so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and having our family sealed to us forever! We then went to the Cody Mural and Church History Visitors Center from 1pm–3pm. That was a fascinating experience to have a tour guide and see the mural with the lights and audio. I had visited this building several times, but not with a tour guide. I appreciated all I learned! We then went home and had a nice, relaxed day with everyone. In the evening, we enjoyed singing around the piano!
Monday, July 4
The day started with loading the new hay bales from our pasture into the horse trailer and unloading them into the barn. This is always an annual event that David does when he has other strong family members here to help him! We went to the downtown Cody parade, which was a lot of fun as usual. We then went home and fixed our annual “Red, White, & Blue” Pancake Brunch. We played volleyball and other games, which was so much fun! Later in the evening we had a barbecue, but then it started to rain. By the time it got dark, the rain had stopped, so we sat on lawn chairs and watched the Cody fireworks. Despite the earlier rain, we were able to build a fire in the fire pit and enjoyed our s’mores and annual root beer floats, which was a tradition from my childhood! Andrew set off his fireworks in the horse pasture next to the fire pit, which was a great display! Everyone went to bed exhausted and happy—it had been a huge day!
Like A Dream
Our week-long 70/50 celebration had now come to an end! What a wonderful, amazing week it had been! David and I felt so loved by all our family members who had made it so memorable! It was an incredible experience, and it now seems like a dream! It was sad to have it come to an end, but the memories will live on forever!