Cheers to 40 Years!

On September 4th, 1971, my parents said “I do”. They were 19 and 20 and had met their freshman year at Northeast Missouri State. 40 years, 3 kids and 4 grandchildren later…they’re still going strong!

To celebrate their big day, we got sneaky and planned a surprise party.

It was no easy task keeping the secret from our parents, but it was a fun party to plan. Planning a party with my sister is like doing a group project with someone really smart…you help out, but you don’t worry about the finished product because you know it will turn out perfectly 🙂 And perfect it was…

To lure them to the party we said we were going to do a small anniversary celebration with just the kids and grandkids at a park in Gardner. What they didn’t know was that there would be 40 others friends and family members there to help us celebrate!

“Surprise Gigi and Papa!”

The aftermath…

And just in case you didn’t get enough pictures, here is the slideshow we made for the party. I’ve watched it a hundred times and I still get a little teary-eyed.

Happy Anniversary to the best parents (and grandparents) in the world! I know I speak for Josh and Lindsay too when I say you’ve taught us what love and relationships are all about. We love you!