Silver Anniversary

We're spending the night at my dad and stepmom's in Tioga.  We came up today to be able to attend a party this evening for my cousin and her husband, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary.  Wanna see some photos?

My cousin Brenda is the oldest daughter of my aunt Penny, one of my dad's sisters.  Brenda and Rick were married a quarter of a century ago and had their wedding dance on the driveway at Penny's home south of McGregor.  It was fitting, then, that Brenda's kids arranged for tonight's party to be there again.

The kids had put up photos all over from Brenda and Rick's wedding.  These were on a shelf in the garage, but there were framed photos on each table, too.  It brought back a lot of fun memories from the wedding and dance all those years ago!

The garage was set up as "food central."  Along one wall were several tables with salads, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, and meatballs, all served by a catering company parked out back.  Perpendicular to those tables were more tables set up with homemade cookies and bars, nuts and mints, and cake (see above--yep, that's their wedding photo!).

The driveway was set up with tables for the first couple hours.  That's where we sat to eat and visit, view a slide show of photos from the first 25 years of Brenda and Rick's marriage (can you see the screen just inside the south garage door?), and . . .

. . . hear a couple songs performed by their kids Katrina, Nicholas, Meghan, and Rachelle.  Here they are on Penny's deck just off the driveway.

After everyone had eaten, we moved most of the tables off the driveway so that people could dance.  A band performed on a flatbed truck just south of the garage.  Some people danced (that's Brenda and Rick in the photo); others just visited while the music played in the background.  Suzanna, Abigail, and Hillary ran around the yard playing with the other kids and with the baby kitties at my cousin Jerry's house just across the road.  Abigail and Hillary found other kids about their age, and Suzanna became de facto babysitter for the littlest kids there, making sure that they didn't torture the kittens or get into anything on the farm that they weren't supposed to.

Here's Penny, the "mother of the bride."  Her son Jerry was there, too, as were two of her son Darren's daughters: Paige and Shantell.  Other Mobergs present: our family, of course; my dad and stepmom; Dad and Penny's brother Shine and his wife; and two of Shine's daughters, Marsha and Myrna.

These are my great-aunts Arlene and Marion, sisters of my paternal grandpa.  Arlene's daughter LeeAnn was there with her daughter Val and Val's daughter Peyton.  Also there was my great-uncle Bob (widower of June, sister of my paternal grandma) and his two daughters and their husbands.  I think that was it for my relatives, although there were plenty of other people there, some Brenda's relatives on her dad's side, some Rick's relatives, and lots of friends and neighbors.

Brenda and Rick's family: Meghan, Katrina, Brenda, Rick, Nicholas, Rachelle, and Rachelle's husband Jason (By the way, Rachelle and Jason are celebrating their first anniversary tomorrow!)

Congratulations, Rick and Brenda!  Here's wishing you 50 more!