"Life is lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road and we stand on the mountain looking back through the valley that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale.” Jill Savage

Monday, July 08, 2024

LAKE NORRIS TENNESSEE - Celebration of our 50th anniversary with the kids.

This year seems packed with celebrations and new adventures.  I usually don't write so much about myself or my family, but there are so many 'firsts' this year so bear with me celebrating and kind of bragging.  Forgive me.  

We celebrated our 50th anniversary May 11, 2024.

The kids made plans to celebrate it in June - when everyone could get together at the same time.

Halfway between where my son lives and where we live was around Lake Norris, TN. 

They rented an Air B&B and we celebrated all weekend long.

The Georgia Group



The Ohio Clan


THE ECLECTIC EIGHT:



Fly fishing . . . 


                                           We bought a hand casting set from Amazon.
This is a photo of 8 of us around one bucket - with one of our hands in the bucket touching one another.  We practiced first!
I am in there at the bottom!



You pull the side putty off the sides and the hands appeared.



Then you try to refine it.


It is not finished yet - but is getting more and more refined.
No one, but me, thought it would work with 8!  It did!!



My son rented a pontoon boat for a six-hour ride.
My son looked down at the side of the boat when we got on and the first thing that happened was that his sunglasses fell in the water.
No way to retrieve them!
Rough Start!



Here we go.
We rented a tube.
Brought sandwiches, chips, and cokes.



Now we are chilling a bit.



Tubing.  Everyone got on - except me.  I didn't feel physically able to do it, but 
I loved watching.
                                                             


Everyone did take a turn to drive the boat.



My two grandsons - ten years a part.  23 and 13.  



This was our 50th anniversary cake my son ordered.  The cookies my daughter ordered had our wedding pictures on it.



While everyone cooked - I took a nap!
It was wonderful.
I didn't cook or clean up.




                                                        A feast. A real set up!



                                        All the decorations for the 50th birthday party.




                                    It felt great to have everyone at the table together.
                                                    It felt like the Waltons!



                                                Husband checking things out.

                                                         Then we had to go home.

                                                Parting was such sweet, sweet sorrow.

                                                        We had a wonderful time.

                                    I was so grateful for so many different things.

                                                                           women photo ATT00002-1.gif                             


24 comments:

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

Happy Anniversary ! That was quite a celebration you all had.. So glad your family could all participate!!!

MadSnapper said...

Now this is the proper way to celebrate 50 years. what a fun way to celebrate. love the kitchen in the house your rented and the lake. I would not get on the float either. hard to believe your grandsons are 23 and 13. wow, how did that happens so fast. we will not reach out 50th, we are about to be 40 years and bob would be 98 and me 90 for our 50th. doesn't look like that will happen.

Ginny Hartzler said...

Well, I wish you would post yourself and your family much more often. Congratulations, 50 years is a big one!!! The cake is gorgeous, and I have never seen photo cookies like this! I recognize your son and his new wife! What a wonderful day! Don't think I have ever actually seen your husband! He is as cute as you are. I would sure not have gotten in the water either. Or rather, COULD not!

Sparky said...

Happy Anniversary! We'll have our 45th next month. Where did the time go?! Time flies ... literally. Great photos with a beautiful setting. Glad y'all had a good time. 💙

Ginny Hartzler said...

I meant to say I recognize your GRANDSON, not son. But he has been like a son to you. Also, I love the plaster hands, that is beyond cool!!

Linda said...

What a perfect way to celebrate this amazing anniversary!
Congratulations and what a truly beautiful family you have!!

DUTA said...

Congrats on your 50th wedding anniversary! Great pictures of a wonderful family gathering around Lake Norris, with festive food and proper decorations!

Kelly said...

Congrats to your 50th!! What a wonderful weekend it turned out to be to celebrate with everyone. :) Love you!

Mevely317 said...

What a great idea! Hey, you go right ahead and brag ... shout it from the rooftops, m'dear! Beautiful location and better, a beautiful family. I'd love to do that pontoon rental, but I'm afraid neither Tom or I are physically able to handle that. And we can't call the Coast Guard, lol.
Congratulations on getting everyone to participate in the hand sculpture thingie!

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

50yrs wow there is so many now days who do not have the staying power, giving up when it gets hard, me and Tim will have been married 40yrs in September. All the photos are of happy people enjoying themselves and that is wonderful

Chez Cheri said...

Oh my goodness what a wonderful 50th celebration. Looks like so much fun! I am so glad that you all had a great time!

Romance Reader said...

Wow, wonderful celebration. Seems like all of you had so much fun!

Terri D said...

Sandie!! What a wonderful celebration you all had!! The cake is lovely and the cookies so perfect I can't imagine a better way to celebrate than having the entire family together for a week of fun and love. Thanks for sharing this with us!! Congratulations and I with you so many more beautiful years together!

Red Rose Alley said...

Sandie, what a wonderful celebration for your 50th. It was a casual outing at the lake, which sounds so much better than a big party! The clay hands are amazing, I love that! You can keep that forever as a reminder of your special trip. LOVE the group photo. Your grandsons look alike I think. And that lake is beautiful. Did you try fly fishing too? My son was given a fly fishing pole, and he hasn't tried it yet, but it's supposed to be the most relaxing hobby. Sorry your son lost his sunglasses in the water first thing. That must have been hard for him. I know some people need their sunglasses. The tubing sounds fun! And that cake looks so Yummy! Such a creative idea that the cookies had your wedding pictures on them. That was funny what you said about The Walton's. I love that show. What a wonderful time with all your family, Sandie. It was so nice to hear about all the happenings of your 50th anniversary celebration.

~Sheri

Abby said...

Happy Anniversary! How nice that you all got together!

photowannabe said...

Oh Sandy, Your celebration made my eyes misty. What an amazing time!!! Family all together, great food and wow on that cake and those cookies. A whole lot of love and thought went into your days together.
Cherished memories.
No need to apologize for anything. I adored every word of this post.
Love just pours out of this post..
(((hugs)))
Sue

photowannabe said...

Oops...I forgot to mention the plaster caste hands. What a fabulous idea and that's a keepsake you will want to look at and admire for many years to come..Happy 50th...
Sue

Prims By The Water said...

Happy belated 50th anniversary!!! Kudos to the both of you. So glad everyone was able to celebrate this milestone with you. I would not have gone tubing either. The finished hands will be one awesome piece. Janice

acorn hollow said...

How absolutely Perfect!!! To me that is the best way to celebrate 50 years!
Congratulations to you and your husband.
Cathy

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Happy 50th Anniversary! I am in awe of this post. What a fabulous celebration you had. That hand thing is so awesome. What a fun thing to do. You did so many fun things. What a beautiful cake and the sweet photos around it. The pictures are all fabulous. I'm so happy for you.

jack69 said...

Oh Sandie, what a great entry. Anniversaries of that length are becoming far between. Of course we loved the pictures, I am assuming you took most of them and did a great job. The cake was beautiful and the hands!!!! What at treat that was. Sherry and I were talking about the grandson we are familiar with, and cannot believe we watched on the net as he went from grade school, thru college and marriage.
Love you lady and your comments make our day....

Sandi said...

The hand sculpture is amazing!

I had a friend who lost his camera the same way your guy lost his sunglasses. I wonder what we would find if we dredged all the oceans and all the seas. Pirate bounty and Ray-bans would be my guess!

Kay G. said...

How lovely! All of it, the location, the food, the boat, the hands casting of all of you, everything! Happy 50th anniversary!!

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