The 50th Anniversary celebration

Did you guys know that my mom also has (I should say had) six brothers and only one sister as well? Her sister, my aunt Earlene and her family live in Idaho but they came down for Christmas every year while I was growing up. Needless to say we became really close with our Porter cousins and a lot of them were able to come for the anniversary so we had a small Porter/Huston reunion before the family dinner & reception.

We sat around telling funny stories and looking at pictures, it was very nice to laugh and remember fun times.

And like so many other times when they came to visit they were a huge help in helping set up. 

Do you remember how I told you I asked my aunt about my parents wedding reception? Well one of the things she told me was that they had an aluminium Christmas tree with turquoise ornaments. Debbie was able to borrow one and when my mom saw it she got teary eyed and asked how we knew. My aunt was able to give her a sly smile and tell her she had. 

Here is a dress from one of my moms formals and my dads letterman jacket that we had on display. 

 Party favors CD's that look like records and a playlist of some of parents favorite songs. 

After we finished setting up and getting ready for the family dinner/program. 

My parents original cake topper. 

We did a bake potato bar

The smoked meat was particularly good!

 I didn't have a lot of time to eat as we had to get going on the program. First we had the grand kids get up and sing Lollipop which was pretty adorable if I do say my self.

My brothers Clint & Mark along with a family friend Dusty played my parents song Sleep Walk and did such a good job and when my dad cried of course I cried. 

 We took some quick family pictures and then it was time for the real party to start!

We had a soft serve ice cream machine along with cones and root beer for floats. 

 We of course had to dance The Twist.

And it was so nice to catch up with old friends. 

It was a lot of work and a long day but to see my mom glowing like she was a new bride and see me dad chatting away with old friends made it all worth it. What I really loved about the whole thing was how there was so much that needed to be done and I never had to ask. Like when I was last to get my food some of the toppings were running low but before I had time to even look for someone to get more there is my brother Kent bringing more food. Our cousins cleaned up the food while the program was going on and my aunt spent all night in the kitchen washing dishes. I also went in to were the kids had been playing knowing it was a disaster and I don't think I mentioned this but I was sick and just exhausted so when I went in to the nursery and saw that the room was spotless I almost cried with relief. My dad told me my other brother Brett had cleaned it. I told my parents the next day to me that is the biggest testament of what great parents they are is how we work so well together as a family.

We did get my aunt out of the kitchen long enough to take a picture and I just hope some day I can be like these amazing women, they are my heroes.