Grandma & Granpa's 60th Wedding Anniversary

June 21 marked 60 years of marriage for my grandparents, and so the following Saturday (June 24), we had a big picnic to celebrate. I insisted on being there since I was on my mission during their 50th anniversary party, I was really looking forward to the reunion. Drama that popped up made it hard. How I wish that we adults could practice the ideals we try to teach our children! I'm often amazed that adults still throw fits--myself included. My childhood self was quite shocked to discover it.  I arrived at the party feeling out of sorts, and I only took pictures because my grandma asked me to. I love her, so I tried to suck it up and put on a good face for her, even though I was not in the mood. 

I've been blessed to grow up next to my grandparents, and so I know their siblings pretty well. I didn't realize this until one of my more quirky great-aunts started rubbing my cousin the wrong way. I knew how to handle her while my cousin, who was unfamiliar with her, did not. I hadn't considered that blessing before. Here is my grandma with her sisters that were there. 

 (Here's my confession, I can't think of any other sisters that weren't there, but I'm not sure if this is all of them. I guess I should have paid more attention!)

My mom is fabulous, and I love that Brian took this picture of us:

 My grandpa with his surviving siblings. I love my Uncle Kay and Aunt Valeen. I was sad to see that Kay's wife, Aunt Vel, was not doing very well. I missed seeing Aunt Ruby (Grandpa's sister) and Uncle Brad (Valeen's husband), who have both passed away. Taking these pictures reminded me of how important pictures are. None of us are promised tomorrow, and we only regret the pictures that we don't take.

 I love these two so much.

I was reminded, once again, that I don't really have cousins my age, so I end up feeling lonely at these things. Brian finally understood what I've talked about my whole life after this! Finally, I decided that even though I didn't have cousins to reminisce with, that didn't mean that I couldn't make new memories with cousins now. So, I convinced my younger cousin Lizzy and her husband Brett, as well as my new cousin-in-law Janica to play spoons. We tried to recruit others. Most said no, but we did manage to recruit an elderly neighbor for it. We had a lot of fun. I'll have to remember to do this sooner next time. 

 Gabe enjoyed the party. He loves being outside and he loves food. It was basically a win-win for him.

 After the party, we went back to my parents' house to have dinner and roast marshmallows.

  

Despite drama and disappointments, it was nice to be with family and see some of these amazing people that I haven't seen in a while.