It's been a busy...but awesome few weeks! On February 12th we celebrated my grandparents' 50th Anniversary! The efforts of putting together a celebration for them pretty much began with their 3 daughters (one of which is my mom) and their sons. The rest of us grandchildren were given assignments and before you know it...the party planning was in full swing!
(We tied gold ribbon above the photo on the final invites Ü)
When my grandparents decided they didn't want a public slide show of their lives shown at the party, I thought it would be a wonderful gift for them if I were to create a photo book! Each page would be personally dedicated to my grandparents from each of their children and older grandchildren who were also married. I had no idea of the challenge I was taking upon myself! Lol My grandparents have 12 children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As you can imagine, it was pretty difficult at times for me to track everyone down. It took a lot of emailing, reminding, posting and phone calls to make sure everyone got their photos and messages in so that I could order it and receive it before the day of the party. I spent over 60 hours on Photoshop creating each page for the book from scrap. It was a 'labor of love' for me and when it was finally complete I finally had the chance to see it in it's entirety...it was as beautiful as I had imagined it to be. :) You can see it
here!
The party was a huge success as well. Of course, there were many hours of preparation and cooking that went into making it a success and it was great having so many family members helping out. I must admit that my mom and aunts are pretty much the
best cooks ever! They really are. Ü The food was amazing that day. My mom even drove...yes, drove from California to Utah with over 20 Dobash cakes from King's Hawaiian Bakery in her car. My mom placed a Dobash cake on top of a crystal vase that was filled with gold leaves as the centerpiece for each table. Rather than having a huge cake to cut and to serve everyone with, we had a beautiful, small wedding cake for my grandparents to cut and eat and the same for each table. By the way, Dobash cake from King's Hawaiian is my favorite! Ü
As entertainment for the anniversary party, each family was to come up with a talent number and our girls decided they wanted to dance! Both Madysen and Sariah did tahitian solo numbers and they did an awesome job! In the past our girls have danced for the Polynesian dance troupe, Hitia O Te Ra, in California. Even though it's been quite some time since they've performed...they weren't the least bit shy and still remembered how to shake it! Ü Their cousins did just as wonderful with talents that included hip-hop dancing, Samoan sivas, and primary songs.
Our grandparents made their entrance into the party with a waltz and it was darling watching them dance together. Their steps were ever so careful and small so as not to risk the chance of slipping or falling but that worry wasn't evident on their faces...only the look of happiness and decades of love for one another, for their family and for their friends. I say it often when I'm writing but it's worth repeating...time spent with family and friends is time well spent. Everyone had a great time at the party and we always enjoy the company of our cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, parents and friends. Ü
After the party had ended and cleaning up was complete, we gathered at our grandparents' home where I presented them with their photo book. Even after it's completion, I had kept the final product a surprise from everyone else in the family, so it was pretty much a battle over who got to see the book next after my grandparents. Ü They loved their book. I was so proud. I'm thankful to all of my family members who took the time out to participate in the book because being worth it in the end was an understatement with the reaction given from my grandparents. I can only speak for myself when I say how grateful I am to have been blessed with grandparents such as mine. The stories, the examples they've set and the lessons they've taught me will stay with me the rest of my life.
As you may remember, Sariah recently played in the Jr. Jazz basketball league here in Utah. After the league is over, all of the kids who participated, received a trophy and tickets to a Jazz game! After receiving those tickets, Sariah took it upon herself to tape some (pretty big) reminders on the wall next to her bed so she wouldn't forget about the game. Ü Her tickets were placed ever so carefully in her jewerly box and she's been looking forward to it ever since.
