A little over fifty years ago my grandpa was a young man in his mid twenties who had made up his mind to be a bachelor for the rest of his life. He had decided that women in general were too high maintenance and caused too much grief to want to be tied to one for the rest of his life.
And then he met my grandma and his opinion changed.
My amazing, sweet, beautiful grandma was a single mom to two darling children at the time. As hard as it was, she was rocking her mom role with grace.
Their love story began in a little coffee shop and fifty years later it is still going strong.
We, their posterity, gathered in Oregon to celebrate that love and 50 years as a family. In those 50 years our family has grown from 4 to 29 members, including our honorary Thai uncle. Jom (pronounced Chom) joined the family about 15 years ago when he met my grandparents while they were doing missionary work in Thailand. There was an immediate connection and he has been part of our family ever since.
The party planning began last fall and it was decided that Father's Day weekend was the best time for the celebration. Jom was contacted in Thailand and we all made the arrangements to be there no matter what. Jom's plan to attend was kept a secret from all but a select few just in case something came up and he wasn't able to make it. Hope dashing was not to be had at this shin dig.
Jom, a big time news man in Thailand (think Dan Rather or Barbara Walters-esque) took his first vacation days in five years and made the journey over to our side of the globe. The reunion with my grandparents was beyond words so here are the pictures:
Joy. Bliss. Tears.
The rest of us joined the fun later that evening or the following day. A party was held in their honor, complete with great food and old friends and family.
And cake.
Lots and lots of cake.
I was so busy chatting with cousins I hadn't seen in ages that I didn't take any pictures of the decor. The cake was adorned with yellow roses reminiscent of the fact that my grandpa had yellow roses delivered to my grandma each hour of their wedding day until it was time to walk down the aisle. How's that for Hallmark movie kind of love?!
Theirs is a true, devoted, eternal kind of love. The kind of love worth celebrating!
The original crew.
The work of 50 years.
"Welcome Party Animals" was the family slogan that often greeted us in banner form upon our arrival at family gatherings. Thus the pig noses have become a bit of a tradition.
I'm the lucky one in the bird nose.
I sure love this family of mine!
All that picture taking can wear a girl out!
We're so glad Jom could be with us!
After our family picture session we headed to a beach house at the coast where we continued the party for a few more days. More on that later.
On our way to the coast we stopped at Sweet Creek Falls so we could take everyone on our favorite little hike. It was beautiful of course and the babies loved their first hiking experience, well the part they were awake for.
Not everyone was excited about being by the water.
We kept waiting for the fall into the water. Jared stayed dry, but David ended up in the creek much to his delight.
Ainsley woke up and fussed every time I tried to adjust her sleeping position so this is how she stayed until she woke up on her own.
My handsome guys.
Awake and ready to snuggle.
My brother Jared, my sister-in-law Christine, and their three adorable boys.
What a difference a year makes!
1 comment:
that pic of your grandparents surprised faces is the cutest thing I have ever seen!!! and your babies are darling.
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