The extra details

I realized after reading my 30th anniversary blog posts I missed a few details that I didn't want to leave out.

The napkins were rolled with the silverware in them and the little tags had two sayings:

Eat, Drink & Stay Married! and Chuck & Shari's 30th. Made for a cute and festive personal touch.

 

The Guest Libs were a spin off of Mad Libs which are fun and silly stories made by coming up with adjectives/verbs/emotions/etc and then filling them into a preset story. I made the story itself a 5x7 so it'll fit easily into an album with pictures for commemorate the evening later. They are really fun to read!! And I KNOW some of those guys put other's names on them, haha

Festive margarita glasses:

The buffet table:

 

Leah's pinata we used as a decoration :)

 

Entry table:

 

This may seem like a random post, but I loved all of it and didn't want to forget :)

In the last 30 years ...

This was a little challenging to put together. Bryan and I had managed to get about half done, and then Grady, Marissa, Bryan and I spent several hours Friday night finishing it up.

Some are funny, some are sweet, some are current events, and some are a wee stretch :)

I hope you enjoyed hearing them!

THIRTY YEARS OF MARRIAGE

“In the last 30 years …”

1 – “Shari and Chuck have ONE Grandbaby; Clara Beth Evans”

2- “They’ve lived on TWO continents”

3 – “They’ve owned THREE ranches”

4 – “Dad has gone through FOUR company ‘name changes’ through mergers and acquisitions”

5 – “There have been FIVE different presidents in office”

6 – “Chuck and Shari dated for SIX years before getting married”

7 – “They have lived in SEVEN different cities”

8 – “And EIGHT is the record number of consecutive years they’ve lived in one city”

9 – “They’ve helped NINE kids through college”

10 – “It has been TEN years since they became ex-patriots by moving to Aberdeen, Scotland” 

11 – “There have been ELEVEN Family trips to Schlitterbahn waterpark”

12 – “Our parents have lived in TWELVE different houses throughout the years”

13 – “There are THIRTEEN current and former Aggie students in the family”

14 – “They have visited FOURTEEN countries together”

15 – “FIFTEEN Olympic games have taken place”

16 – ”The Aggies have had SIXTEEN winning Aggie basketball seasons”

17 – “We estimate they have owned SEVENTEEN Vehicles”

18 – “Dad has played EIGHTEEN holes of golf MANY times”

19 – "Is a prime number…." :)

20 – “It has been TWENTY years since the song ‘My Achy Breaky Heart’ was released”

21 – “There were TWENTY ONE points on Dad’s biggest whitetail deer”

22 – “There have been TWENTY TWO winning seasons of Aggie football”

23 – “It has been TWENTY THREE years since their family of 4 was complete”

24 – “They were married on the TWENTY FOURTH day of July in 1982”

25 – “It has been TWENTY FIVE years since George Straight released ‘Check Yes or No’”

26 – “TWENTY SIX years have passed since the price of oil fell below $10/barrel in 1986”

27 – “The record number of times we ate Eggplant Casserole in just one month is believed to be around TWENTY SEVEN”

28 – “It has been TWENTY EIGHT years since the first movies of The Terminator and Indiana Jones came out”

29 – “TWENTY NINE joyous Christmases have been celebrated”

30 – “And THIRTY beautiful years of marriage shared”

SURPRISE! 30th Anniversary Party (Part 2)

I drove over to Mom & Dad's house while the guests were continuing to arrive, somehow managed to persuade Dad to be blindfolded (although he whined about it the whole way there!! :) and got them to the party. 

I'm thinking the whole shabang was completely worth it for this picture:

So funny!!

Ready .... SURPRISE! And, believe it or not, it really was a surprise! Dad said he absolutely loved it when he realized he was walking into a room full of many of his favorite people, several of whom had to drive a pretty good ways to get there. (Sorry I'm in the picture.)

Ready to party :)

Lots of good friends ready for hugs:

More hugs & people making their way toward the margarita machine :)

Dad with Aunt Jana & Uncle Keith:

Getting the buffet started, mmmm fajitas:

Los Cucos did a great job catering. AND they kept their word and didn't put a bit of cilantro in anything! (Dad has an allergy to cilantro.)

The frame Aunt Tricia brought for everyone to sign - and the invitation we sent out in the middle for now:

Mom getting to hold her grandbaby and show her off to friends that she hasn't seen in a while:

Grady & I did a bit of a different "toast" about the last 30 years ... I'm going to do a separate post for that in just a minute. After we spoke, Mom & Dad cut the cake:

I just love this photo!! Who knows what made Mom laugh this hard - there was LOTS of laughter all evening :)

Then we invited anyone who would like to make a toast in honor of Chuck & Shari or share a favorite or funny memory. The many speeches were awesome! And of course we could count on Jim to get the ball rolling :)

Papaw's salute:

Sarah's toast:

Meanwhile, Grady & I finished cutting the cake & passing it out. I was shocked at how much was actually consumed! Perfect quantity if I do say so myself :) Apparently cookie cake is a good choice for a party.

The toasts and memories continue:

I think Mom & Dad enjoyed them :) They were all so funny and sweet. This was a great group of people.

Can always count on TJ for a good laugh!

And the Talbots!

Dad speaking:

Aunt Tricia: 

Aunt Jana:

Nona & Pawpaw with festive Clara (although I'm not sure how they managed to get a hold of her - there was lots of baby snatching going on!)

Our family:

Many gallons of margaritas later Bryan's still filling it the machine up:

What I love about gatherings like this is how much everyone loves visiting with each other! Especially since many of them haven't seen each other in a while.

I'm glad the Baldwins were able to to make too.

Several people stayed behind to help us clean up which we REALLY appreciated! You know the party is a hit when people stay over 5 hours, and then only start leaving once we start subtly cleaning up, haha. I love it when folks WANT to stay!

Although I suppose I really overdid it yesterday because today everywhere from my c-section is so incredibly sore. Probably because I was moving tables and chairs and walking and basically just on my feet for 10+ hours. Oops. I was beat by the end of the evening so thank you for helping us load up the car, take out the trash and get the place tidy again. We appreciate it!!

Clara projectile vomited for the very first time at the end of the evening too. I think she was probably really over stimulated. She seems to be feeling much better today! And I think she must have been really worn out too, because after nursing at midnight when we got home, she slept until FIVE FIFTEEN! That's right ... 5 hours of sleep in one stretch. Bryan and I were very thankful!

Mom & Dad, I hope you two had a wonderful time at the party! We love you so incredibly much and admire the team that the two of you make. I'm proud of how hard you try to make your marriage continue to work, and what a great example you set for young couples like Bryan and I, and Grady and Marissa. Love you! And happy 30th anniversary!!

SURPRISE! 30th Anniversary Party (Part 1)

Yesterday was a very special day! Not quite as special as July 24th will be when my parents celebrate their ACTUAL 30th Anniversary, but yesterday was the day that many friends and family celebrated with them and congratulated them on accomplishing what not very many couples manage to do these days: stay happily married for 30 consecutive years to the same person. That's pretty amazing and definitely deserving of recognition and celebration! 

In February I started thinking about what we could do to make this particular year special for my parents. They do so much for so many people, and I wanted them to feel that same feeling of being treated and loved on. After brainstorming with Bryan, we asked Grady & Marissa if they would want to throw a party for my parents with family and friends that have been there for them through the years and really know what a wonderful 30 years it's been. They readily agreed, and we started working on logistics. 

Although most surprise parties don't end up being a surprise, we decided it would be well worth trying if it actually stayed a secret. I scouted out a nice facility in the Montgomery area with a pretty big room and knew we could comfortably fit about 60 people. Marissa and I got to work designing invitations, making a guest list, and gathering decorations (Thank you Leah for loaning us some of your goodies too!). Grady & Marissa put together a music play list and sent out the invitations while Bryan and I found a caterer, ordered the cake, wrote a "guest lib" and rolled napkins. It has been coming together nicely!! And we actually had a great response from the guests! At least 2/3 - maybe 3/4? - of the folks said they would be able to make it. My one great fear this entire time was not knowing who we should have invited and didn't because we couldn't ask my parents. If we left someone out, I promise it was VERY unintentional and is not a reflection of how my parents feel about you!! We tried, but I know we probably didn't get the list perfect.

Grady & Marissa (and Murphy too, of course :) drove in from Midland on Friday, and we finished up some last minute touches. Saturday morning we packed up everything we needed (or so we hoped) and drove the 50 minutes over the facility to start decorating. It's a pretty bland room on its own, and I knew we would need some time to get it looking good.

We set out all the tables and chairs, tablecloths, napkins,  and centerpieces. Grady & Bryan started hanging the streamers and other fiesta decor from the ceiling. 

Grady & Marissa got the ladder, ordered balloons and bought beer while Bryan and I ran to The Woodlands to pick up the cookie cake and had to run back to Tomball to get the things we forgot.

It was getting closer to time and the room was starting to look really festive! I think the 4 of us were pretty impressed with how cute the hall was managing to look.

Working on the set up:

Hats with candy and pictures, and eventually balloons coming out the top.

Hanging the Chinese lantern looking balloon things:

Bryan comforting wee Clara for a little while:

The massive Cookie Cake from The Great American Cookie Company!

It says Happy 30th Anniversary in case it's hard to read, and it's two toasting margarita glasses :) I'm not very creative so this was the best I could come up with, haha. It did turn out really cute!

Clara made the set up much easier on us by taking an afternoon nap. Thanks honey!

 

Grady's margarita glass masterpiece & Mom & Dad's extra festive personalized glasses:

The time had come for the guests to start arriving! Los Cucos was set up, the decorations were in place, and we were ready! 

I ran to go pick up Mom & Dad while the guests started visiting:

And signing the frame:

Many friends and family came!!

You may notice that Clara is in MANY pictures! She definitely made the rounds!

Side note: Thank you Aunt Tricia for picking up the 30 & Happy Anniversary balloon for us, the cute table picture holders, the frame for signing & the gift bag!!! We REALLY appreciated it!!!

 

I don't think we managed to get a photo of everyone, but captured most!

Stay tuned for Part 2, when Mom & Dad show up!