Happy 70th Birthday To Me!
Excerpts From My Journal
I wanted to plan a big celebration for my 70th birthday, which was on June 29th and also celebrate David and my 50th wedding anniversary, which had been on March 30th. Our celebrations lasted a week—June 28 – July 4! It started in Provo, Utah, and finished in Cody, Wyoming!
Tuesday, June 28
David and I wanted to begin our celebration by attending the Provo Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because we know that the Sealing Power of the Priesthood and our temple covenants provided the foundation for our 50 years of a happy marriage! It was such a special experience to look around at our family members who were with us and feel their love and commitment to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. My heart was filled with great joy and gratitude that somehow, someway, in all our blunderings of parents that we were able to instill in our children’s hearts the joy of living the gospel. What a great spiritual blessing!
Wednesday, June 29
I had my 70th birthday dinner at the Brick Oven restaurant in Provo near BYU, which is where David and I have a memory of eating there one time. It was so fun to watch my children, their spouses, and my grandchildren walk into the restaurant and greet us!
As is our tradition, David invited everyone to go around the room and say something “nice” about me. Because it was such a large room and a bit noisy, I decided it was best for me to stand beside each person as he or she spoke to me. That turned into a very special experience as I could look into each person’s eyes, hold their hands, and give them each a hug.
Thursday, June 30
We went to the Splash Summit Resort Waterpark in Provo, and we had a wonderful time together! I wanted to have a “Play Day” so my family would all remember that I do like to play! Although I’m usually in the kitchen cooking, working, and serving my family when everyone comes home to Cody, I do enjoy playing as well!
I went on a variety of daring rides with my children and grandchildren, which knocked me around quite a bit, but I survived! I thought I would be really sore the next day, but I wasn’t. I guess I was in better shape than I thought I was! It was so fun to see everybody’s happy smiling faces as they went off in small groups to enjoy the rides or just sit under the umbrella and visit with each other.
We had dinner at Ben and Shelley’s home for dinner. We had a taco bar and ate outside on blankets, until it started to rain! We quickly cleaned up and then began our rehearsal for Friday night’s musical program.
Annie rehearsed with the grandchildren in the family room, and we adults rehearsed in the living room. Then everyone rehearsed together. At the end, Rebekah said, “We are singing Grandaddy’s favorite hymn, “Love at Home,” but why aren’t we singing our favorite hymn we used to always sing, “Count Your Many Blessings?” We all decided that was a good idea, so Ben picked up his guitar, and we sang it!
We then handed out our new yellow and blue T-shirts, which Michelle designed for our celebration. Everyone loved them! It turned out to be a late evening, and everyone was so tired after such a long day!
To be continued in my July post . . .