Golden 50th Anniversary

Yesterday we spent all day in Bountiful.

Mom & Cameron left before we did to set up and buy a few last minute things (like some of the fruit).

Me, Dad, Jarom & Amber left here around 11:30. When we got there we helped set up chairs, tables, etc. David & I went to get balloons, but all we found (that would go with what we wanted!!) were white stars. Michael's doesn't have balloons anymore and everywhere else didn't have the colors we wanted. At least we found the white stars. We wanted some gold and silver ones, too. That didn't work out, but it still looked pretty good. :)

Becky set up the cake & practiced "Stardust" a few times (it's their song)-- with a few close encounters of the Kyle kind. Needless to say, she was already grumpy & stressing. That didn't help.

(Yep, Kyle actually came! Shocking! Even though he was pretty much mopey almost the entire time... or wanting to be destructo-boy of some sort...)

If anyone got too close to the cake she wasn't very happy either. (It took her 3 days to make it!)

We went to Chuck-a-Rama for lunch, because it's one of their favorite places ever!

We all went back to my grandparent's house to change (& David and I looked for more balloons/a dress shirt and vest, but no vests... None of his old dress stuff fit anymore, so...)

We finished setting up the room with the food & chocolate fountains for their reception.

Mom liked to say that it's as much work as the wedding, the only difference is that you don't have to buy a big white dress! :P

There were lots of people that I didn't know, or had heard tons about & finally know who they are, OR haven't seen in ages so I didn't recognize them.

The Vernons (Kailien, Tammie & Debbie) showed up, so I sat with them for a while. They saw brother Downward and were talking to him.

They announced that Grandma & Grandpa were going to cut the cake. I hopped up and ran for my camera! (My battery was going to die, so I wanted to save enough so I could get those pictures!)

I guess Kailien, Tammie & Debbie thought they were going to throw a bouquet or something... When I got back they were joking about it.

We stayed up late after the party. It took a while to clean up everything. I think we finally got out of there around 10:30 or 11.

After cleaning up, we went to my grandparent's to get my stuff & some rhubarb for Tammie. I was gonna get it, but my grandpa went out & started pulling some up and chopping the leaves off. He's pretty pro (at EVERYTHING!). He was still in his dress pants and white shirt, and I was still in my dress.

After that we went inside & listened to some of his Army stories. He talked about saving this little black man from a court marshal.

He hadn't driven much and had crashed one of the cars & took out the corner of a building. Being the guy in charge didn't like Blacks or Mormons, they stuck together. They fixed up the car while their captian was out for the weekend. He left every weekend, so they had from Friday night to Monday morning when he got back to work on it. There were 12 guys working on it in shifts (6 at a time). It was all they guys that didn't like that captain.

When the guys came to inspect the car about the court marshal, the car was in perfect running condition (except they hadn't had time to hook the breaks up yet) and looked newer than the other ones. They had taken the front end of a car that had been totaled in the back, cut it in 1/2 and stuck it to the back end of the one the Black guy had broken. They took the id numbers from the busted front and put it on the new front 1/2. The guys that came to inspect it turned it on, and it ran really well. It's a good thing they didn't try driving it, cuz it wouldn't have stopped. (They got it over with the other ones by using the E-break to slow down.)

Nobody liked that captain. He was always trying to court marshal guys.
Grandpa was also telling us about how he had all these bills and debts (about $3000) because of his first wife. This same captain was always chewing him out about it, even though Grandpa didn't have to pay any of it until he wasn't in the Army anymore. Every month he'd get chewed out, so one of the other guys (the captain's secretary) told Grandpa to write to his senator about it.

He (the captain) got in trouble. He wanted to court marshal him over the letter. (He didn't because he was told he'd be sent somewhere he really didn't want to go.) He pretty much hated Grandpa after that. He wouldn't promote anyone, because he'd have to promote Grandpa first (his name was next in the line). Every time Grandpa's name came up, he'd reject the promotion. He also ended up with big red ink in his permanent file and would never see Major (which is what he wanted... a lot!). So neither of them got promoted.

:) We think he needs to write a book! Put everything from when he was little up til now. Grandma, too! <3


The party was fun, but I think everyone that was planning it and everything is glad it's over. It was stressing people out (which seems to be pretty easy to do for that side of my family).

I'm glad Grandpa & Grandma had a good time yesterday. They knew everybody that came and had fun talking to people that hadn't seen in a while.

Becky also has a very cute/pretty quilt that is this-close to being finished. When she gets it done, my grandparents are going to get it. It's got pictures of them all over it. High school portraits, family pictures with their siblings, us... Very cute. I think Mom and I might end up helping some more! :)