40th Anniversary Surprise!
Imagine our surprise when we thought we were coming over for a late afternoon get together at J’s new house only to find that ALL of our children, (including Emily and Geoff who drove through the mountains to get there and Lana and Jeff who flew from California!), our grandchildren, Terry’s sister, Laurie and her partner, Karen, and our nephew, Luke (who drove in from Seattle!) and his bride, Julie, and our dear friend, Maddie. ( ….and 2 doggies : “Happy” and “Dandelion” of course.) were there!
I was so overwhelmed and shocked to see the efforts the whole family put into this surprise party for our upcoming 40th wedding anniversary!
The first thing we saw after our families’ happy faces was the “Terry and Laura” sign. Emily snuck into our house back in Edmonton while we were here and looked at old wedding albums to get some fun ideas. When she showed D the photo of the banner that we had at our wedding reception, he decided he would replicate it with the “40 years!” update.
Servane decorated the house and backyard with yards of pretty bunting , and D put together an animation that included ADORABLE interviews and many drawings of us that the boys did. You can see my image in the first block above, drawn by our 5 year old, M.
There weren’t too many ‘dry eyes in the house’ after that video and before we knew it , it was time for my favourite dinner….lasagna!
I think I’m still in shock over this amazing surprise. I am so in love with my husband of 40 years and I so love all of the family that came together to celebrate.
It was so relaxing and fun to just chat or watch the fun conversations and cuddles that were happening all around.
After our yummy lasagna that S prepared with all the trimmings (caesar salad, garlic bread….) I received incredible flowers from Luke and Julie…. and soon, J brought out a huge (and delicious!) cherry cake for dessert.
That photo of our family at the table is typical of the seriousness of our gang…ha ha ha .
The following morning we met up with some of our family for breakfast at “Deacon’s” and then it was back to J’s again for an afternoon of games. (Codenames, cribbage, and chess)
I love you, my family. Safe travels for those who are heading back…..
And a HUGE thank-you to J and S for housing us and feeding us all and everything else you did to make the day run smoothly.
(R, and our children, D, Lana, Emily, and J and us.