50th Anniversary Celebration

 An appropriate sign hung in the hall of the big house as we walked in.

Because God brought us together many years ago and kept us by His grace these 50 years, and because our children worked so hard to honor their parents, we had a spectacular celebration.
We had left the planning up to them, suggesting a festive finale to our family vacation on Sunday, our last day together.
However, when you have a professional ice carver, an event planner, a decorator, a technology guru, (and many hard working minions) in the family, the event becomes extraordinary.

Saturday some of us were downstairs working on a puzzle, playing games, watching shows.

Interesting round puzzle

We learned a couple new games during our time together. Splendor was for four players.

Playing Splendor

Another one called Shifty Eyed Spies, for eight players, kept us hilariously entertained trying to send secret signals and clues (winking) without getting caught.

Meanwhile, a crew upstairs, was busily staging the grand fiesta. Every so often someone would be summoned upstairs to contribute to the preparations.

At 5:30 or so, we were called upstairs for the evening meal. This was the surprise that awaited us.

Including a Stephan-special--an ice-sculpture that sat in a protective carrier in his car for two days [ah, that's why Saturday not Sunday!], and that Jimmy spent time decorating with a million gold stars!

Several cameras were out busy documenting our reaction. Before having our photo taken in the frame, I ran to our room to get the bridal veil I had brought for the occasion. (Interestingly, after the house fire the restoration company returned it alone, even gray and discolored, but the dress never came back.)

Others made use of the photo op.

However, we did not get as many photos of the entire celebration as we could have. Even if we had, there is no way photos or a blog post could ever do justice to the wonderful way we were blessed.

The best was yet to come. After dinner, we went downstairs again for the family talent show, now a two-year tradition. 

The very first act was a technically-perfect 24-minute video that Matt put together--select photos of our life and family, and many tributes that people sent in (hounded by Kayla). Every member of the family honored us with beautiful words, and friends thanked us for things we could not possibly remember (and even wondered whether they were true!). 

A few of the acts that followed were part of the celebration. There may be more photos and videos still out there. But for now, and for this post, these are enough.

The ice melted considerably overnight, and several large buckets watered the lawn. But the love we were shown will ever be remembered. We came home with a couple visual reminders--a portrait (rendered by a fellow ice carver and artist) and sweet written words.

Next episode: Two Crises/ Grace upon Grace.

Christmas Week--eventFULL

I sit here overwhelmed, trying to process the many events of the past week. Throughout Advent, daily meditations helped me focus on the greatest gift of all time--"the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" and "from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." (John 1:14,16) 

Truly that was our experience--grace upon grace. 

Much time was spent preparing for our getaway December 27-30 to celebrate Christmas and our 50th wedding anniversary together as a family. [Note: We were married on January 31, but that date falls in the middle of the intense robot build-season--never a good time to get away.]

Gifts wrapped and ready for the trip

Tuesday morning we picked up Diane for the scrumptious annual Christmas Eve brunch at Stephan and Karen's.

In the afternoon Diane and I baked cookies from my aunt's recipe. Yummy! Michael is happy to find something in the cookie jar!

In the evening we enjoyed the candle light service. The church was packed; always fun to see visiting family members.

Kayla invited us to join them for food after. She loves to show hospitality. They hosted several family gatherings over the holidays.

Christmas Day we were there again for Leah's chicken and noodles. The day was beautiful, mild and sunny, 60 degrees! The girls (Kayla, Rebecca, Lily and Lucy) and I decided to walk the new trail. It is so close to their house but on the other side of the railroad tracks. On the way back we chose to make our way through the thorny growth and over the tracks. The dogs were okay with that, but Rebecca was not up for the adventure.

That evening, after a delicious steak dinner (Omaha Steaks from Jimmy and Leah), we enjoyed the Walkway of Lights on the way to Diane's apartment in Marion.

Thursday, as I was busy preparing food for our outing, it was fun to see Stephan interviewed about his upcoming ice festival in Carmel.

We promised to provide the first evening meal. So I went crazy preparing a Christmas-type meal ready to heat and eat.

My first-ever pecan pie

Meanwhile, whenever possible, Michael was sorting, rearranging, making order out of chaos in the electronic area of the robotics shop. 

Friday noon we set off for our family getaway in Demotte, two or three hours away.

It seems every year we have need of a Christmas miracle. This year we experienced three crises, and again God was with us--grace upon grace!

The first was when Sam called and said their family might not make it (that's one third of our members to occupy the 8-bedroom house!). Water gushing in the garage, a serious leak under the house, had him baffled. Would he have to dig deep to find the problem? Father and son were on the phone a few times. By God's grace, the source of the problem was discovered and resolved in time for them to join us that night.

The two celebrations and the other two crises deserve posts of their own. So I leave you with only these two questions.

Our make-do Christmas tree holds a clue to the theme of this year's gift-giving. Can you guess?

This lovely decoration, also made on the spot for the surprise our children planned, is surrounded by an item I brought. What is it?