Aniston’s Big Day

 

Since Jonah and Aja don’t have much access to the Internet right now, and since most of our family couldn’t be there, I’ll be the first to let you peek at our FUN DAY! 

With a birthday banner flying overhead made by hand with 8 1/2 X11 printer paper held together with duct tape by Ana herself (since no one else was there to do that important part of the celebration)we all gathered together in the great room for the formal meeting to begin the baptismal service:

(Aja will have a better picture of this terrific banner without the light behind it!)

 

Two families came from St. George, including Ana’s best friend Megan, which was such a nice tribute to them!  It was such joy also to have our only family members living near (Charity) or within driving distance (Looslis)

The bishop from the Dingle Ward (Justin Skinner) came to preside and Kevan along with Aubrey and Howie brought Grandma Ruthie from Logan just in time for the service.

Charity again gave an inspirational talk about baptism and then we treked reverently to the beach for the actual event!

With many cameras clicking away, I’m so lucky to get Jonah and Ana actually looking at mine!

What an adorable baptismal candidate and what a proud and noble father!

 

A fun crowd! We were so glad that the Looslis came…such special, friends, neighbors and most especially family

Jared went out at 7 a.m. and cleared out the “font” that Jonah had made for Grace and Isaac’s baptisms (with the jet skiis…you had to be there to know what we mean)

Once again…the hiked up suit pants and a glorious moment in Aniston’s life history!

Ana was crying and little after the baptism and she turned to her mother and said with a smile, “Don’t worry mom, it’s tears of joy!”

One of the best things about a baptism is that everybody is smiling!

Afterward, we had a wonderful talk about the Holy Ghost from “Lovie”  Tess Wade (Aja’s mom).  She used a beautiful quilt to represent the comforter and all were inspired to see those two up there together!

After a wonderful blessing was pronounced by Jonah with good friends and a great brother-in-law Jared as well of a treasured Grandfather standing in, a wonderful breakfast was served and we enjoyed a spectacular morning we’ll never forget!

By dinner time we were ready for the birthday party!  Jonah cooked his famous “Jonah Burgers”. A grand meal and gift-opening ensued. Ana repeated any article of faith on demand before opening the gift. She knows them all perfectly!

 

Of course the theme was horses and she was purely delighted by every gift and her fun cakeS! 

 

The twins were DELIGHTED to be presented with the pot of leftover mac and cheese for a course between cupcakes and chocolate cake.

 

A truly great time was had by all!  Congrats to Jonah and Aja as they baptize their firstborn and to Tess for flying all the way from California to be there and to the friends, relatives and neighbors for their long journey to enjoy this special day with us! 

Especially ANA…who can still do a great “rat girl” impersonation.

Eli and Julie’s Big Adventure!

 

Before they write themselves, I’ve got to get these fun photos posted of Eli and Julie, cramming all their earthly belongings (or at least all the ones they would need immediately upon arrival) into Julie’s cute little car that Jonah helped them fix up in order to drive across the country from Salt Lake to Washington D.C. ….via Big Bear Lake, CA!  You will understand why they would do that when you realize that Julie’s parents, having just arrived in Brazil for their missionary service, had their kids have a reunion without them in CA!  What a great family they are. And what an adorable couple this is as they start they new life…at last!!!

We ate the top layer of the wedding cake just before they left!  It was DELICIOUS! 

“There’s PLENTY of room here for my knees when I’m not driving,” says Eli after they re-arrange their stuff until he does!

So away they drove into the wild blue yonder with the bumper clearing at least six inches from the ground and black smoke curling out of their tailpipe as they drove away! 

BUT, they made it!!!  We can’t wait for details and pictures!  We love you guys and are so excited for your dreams to come true! 

The Actual Day!

 

I know I’ve written a lot about our big anniversary trip…but the actual day of our actual anniversary did come on July 30!  We left the crowds at Bear Lake and traveled to Logan…via a very good restaurant in Garden City…Cafe Sabor.  All these guys are cute but I especially like the one of the left!

We stopped for a bit of fudge and a stroll through the Raspberry Days festival before heading for Logan.

Our first stop was the very place that we were married forty years ago to the day and then we worked back in our courtship and earlier life from there:

We started with Rick’s childhood…and his school where he attended the first few grades in school and was afraid to walk to school because of the ants!

And then past the school where he spent his older elementary years, the Whittier School:

Of course, the story wouldn’t be right without the good old 18th ward where he spent so much time with family and good neighbors:

We even visited a few of his old girlfriend’s homes just for old times sake but I didn’t take pictures of those!

The House that Dean Built at 518 East will always hold special memories of a wonderful Dad and later an amazing Mother struggling to hold the family together after he passed on. 

Years passed and after a LOT of girlfriends, he found one that he particularly liked and asked her to marry him in this historic tower of Old Main!

On this very balcony:

Old Main tower at USU is a place that will always hold a special spot in our hearts!

After a quick bite to eat at one of our favorite spots in Logan…The Bluebird….

we were blessed to spend some time with these two wonderful women

Karen has been a true heroine for taking such good care of Grandma Ruthie much of the time while Kevan took a well-deserved trip to Europe.

They joined us at Festival Opera House

(Dad in his new favorite shirt bought at raspberry days!)

for The Micado, starring Michael Ballam and his daughter Vanessa. It was fun to see Grandma really enjoying herself!

After the performance, we hit the road and reminisced all the way back to Baliwood!  We counted our blessings and simply could not believe how very fortunate we are! 

If someone would have told us on our wedding day that we would have had so many innumerable blessings by the time 40 years had passed, we would never have believed it…except that Dad thought he would probably be the Pres of the US by now!  Other than that….who would have thought!

We are blessed beyond our wildest dreams and I can’t believe that i have married for FORTY years to such a “dreamboat”!  I am so blessed to be his partner!  

Reunion Finale

What a wild scramble it was to get Grandma back home to Logan, get Charity home for an 8:15 meeting in Salt Lake and get the house and food ready for a “Greet Charity” after her homecoming at our house for about 100 family members and friends. 

As it turned out Dad’s car packed with Talmadge and Anita, Eli and Julie and Charity had a flat tire must outside Woodruff at 11 p.m.  Since they were custom tires, there was a special key that was needed to change the tires and of course, it was NOT in the car.  Dad, the master of “Let me drop everything and get you out of this crisis” was on the phone for an hour working out a rescue.

After much ado, it was decided that a towing company from Evanston would go pick up the car, with all the kids in it and tow it back to Salt Lake on a flatbed truck.  That story wasn’t too funny by 2 a.m. when they finally arrived home but everyone was good natured about it and it’s a fabulous memory! Plus they helped Charity work out her talk for her homecoming the next day!

What a wonderful experience it was to hear Charity report her mission briefly to a wonderful group of men (the High Council) the next morning. That along with her truly amazing homecoming talk made that day one none of us will every forget. Having every single member of the family sitting on those first four rows at church is truly an amazing memory!

Afterward it was so fun to greet family and friends for the last time, after 9 missionary farewells and homcoming…11 counting our dear Eva and Eldar!

Looks on faces tells the real story:

Second Parents:

Future Missionary:

We even caught Lenna and her wonderful supportive family just as they were about to leave:

 

It’s the end of an era!  A plethora of Farewells and Homecomings have come and gone as we have sent 11 missionaries all over the world for eighteen months (women) to two years (men(.  With our in-laws we have 16 missionaries and 12 languages, not to mention the thousands of people who have touched by their good works and loyal dedication to our Savior Jesus Christ and His restored gospel.  How grateful we are for the lives that have been not only touched, but changed forever (theirs as well as those they reached) because of their incredible efforts to love…and love more!