Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

We headed to Albany last weekend for the big anniversary party. My parents are celebrating 40 years, and my great aunt and uncle are celebrating 60 years of marriage! They decided to have a big joint party! That definitely deserves a celebration! There are too many people getting married these days who are not truly committed. These 2 couples obviously have shown they are committed to keeping the promise they made to each other, themselves and God. I'm so blessed to be in a family where those type of values still exist!!

We stayed at the Dyess Manor in Albany. There was once a time when my mom's ENTIRE family lived in Albany, but I actually only have one aunt still living there. This house reminded us so much of my grandparents! All the oooooold details! Crystal door knobs, creaky wood floors, floral furniture....

 and very outrageously tiled bathrooms!

 Mr. Lucas just chillin in his boppy!

 My parents both grew up here, my cousins all grew up here, and my parents actually lived there for a while and my dad was a coach there! I swear, I can go downtown in Albany and more people know me there than in Crane. It's weird, but I have always loved Albany and will always go back there! They have the most adorable downtown! Kristie, Jessi and myself got to have a little "me" time and shopped a little downtown. And of course I stopped at the drug store for a real old fashioned cherry coke. You know...the kind where they pump the syrup in the cup and then add the carbonated water. If you've never been to Albany...you should go!

The party was downtown at the Whitney. A GORGEOUS old building!

Here's a snapshot of the great grandkids, we were missing a couple though so we had to take another later.

 Holton reallly needs a sibling! He loves babies!

 So this is Addison. This was my first time meeting her! Her mom and I go WAAAAAY back! We've been friends for 20 years!!! I was SOOOOOO excited that she and her family came!

 I haven't seen her since my baby shower 2 years ago so I was so glad to visit with her!

 Handsome Nathan!

 My dad wrote a poem for the occasion of course. But everyone knows he's a softy and usually can't read his own poems. :) Luckily Kristie has a gift for singing/speaking in front of a bunch of people!

 Levi intently listened to Aunt Kristie read the poem.

 The honorees! Jane and Harley, they dated a whopping 28 days before they got married!

 Mom and Dad, high school sweethearts!

 This was a little much for sweet Chloe. She got passed around  A LOT, she wanted to eat every 2 hours and was pretty cranky by the time the party was over.

 Abby, Aaron and Addison!

 Me and my boy!

 So here are all the great grand kids!! Brent, Sean, Carly, Devin, Ava, Audrey, Addison, Nathan, Braeden, Lucas, Holton, Levi and Chloe! This is the first time we've all been together in a while!

 And the whooooole fam!! It's really hard to get everyone looking at the camera!

 Shelle's making a silly face. You can tell she's the kindergarten teacher of the group....she kept yelling "silly face!" but could only get a couple of participants besides herself. :)

 They decided to have some fun with my camera. :)

 My Uncle Roy and his two kids.

My parents and all that they started. :)

She must be kin to her momma?

Me with Abby and her parents. I saw a LOT of the country with these peeps! Love them dearly!

After the party we took the kids to swim at Albany's new pool. It's awesome, but I didn't take any pictures. Sorry!

After the pool we all gathered and Uncle Bub and Aunt Debbie's for some burgers. Our kids were POOPED! Levi was a walking zombie. Literally the kid didn't know up from down.

Chloe got passed around and loved on a lot! Chloe and Carly are about the same distance apart as me and Shelle. I'm sure 10 years from now Chloe will adore her and want to be just like her...kind of like I used to do her mom!

After this all of Matthew and Jennifer's girls wanted to hold her. Very carefully with their Momma of course!

It was a wonderful weekend! Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated with my mom and dad! They're pretty special people and it was obvious that there are many who agree with me!