Happy 45th Anniversary, Mom and Dad

Last Saturday, my WHOLE family celebrated my parents' 45th wedding anniversary. 45!?  I just celebrated two and want a pat on the back. In 45 years of marriage, my lovely parents have had 3 children (all girls), 6 grandchildren, 4 step grandchildren, 3 sons-in-laws, and one dog. They raised us girls to be independent, strong, and loving females who adore our families. What a great example they have set!

We were lucky enough to get as close as possible to having the whole crew together. Walt made it to church, but we got a sitter for dinner (with such an early bedtime, he's not the best dinner company unless we eat at, say, 5:30). Mitch, my oldest sister's oldest son (read: the oldest grandchild...perhaps the favorite??) couldn't make it. He's down at A&M and delivering pizzas for cash. Can't get in the way of a paycheck in college!  We met my parents for church where they had a mass dedicated to them.  Here they are getting a blessing:

 
 After mass, the crew headed to Giovanni's in Frisco to eat and drink to this fabulous couple.  I am disappointed in my camera's ability to consistently capture great pictures. It did great in NYC, and pretty crappy on this night.  Here are a few of the better shots:

My seesters and my daddy


My sisters. I love them!

A lame view of our table. It's from the "kids" end.

Abby is easily the favorite cousin.  She's Michelle's youngest. Here she is with Jaelyn (Kathy's youngest)

Colton, Cassie, Colby. We are fond of "C"s in this family!
The couple of the hour!
We had such a good time just eating, drinking and laughing.  We gave my parents a book about 1966, which was the year they were married.  I am so inspired by their relationship and happy we got to spend the night celebrating them.

We spent the next day celebrating Jaelyn's 4th birthday (wow!!) and the rest of the weekend just enjoying not working.

Now, Chris and I are on the brink of our first vacation sans Walt. Although it's very necessary and I'm sure we'll have a blast, I"m really really really missing that little man right now! More on this next post!