This summer my parents' celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. What an accomplishment in today's day in age! 50 years ago they went to Custer State Park for their honeymoon, so it seemed only fitting to celebrate their big anniversary at the same location. Not sure if it was like a "second honeymoon" or not since they were surrounded by all their crazy kids and grandkids, but we could all tell that mom and dad were beaming with happiness!
Many special memories were made during our week together. Hundreds of photos were taken. I'll try to just pick out a few of the best and use them to give a summary of our wonderful week together...
My parents rented a spacious, gorgeous cabin for all of our families to stay at...
Mom and Dad were so happy having us all together
and reminiscing about old times...
They also did lots of dancing to Don Williams,
still their favorite singer after all these many years together...
He sure does have some great love songs that seemed written just for them...
My mom had more than one handsome partner to dance with...
We gave mom and dad gifts from the heart;
this one is a photobook of memories through the years...
This gift is a family photo puzzle for them to work on together...
Of course, we had to go see the "Great Faces" on Mt. Rushmore...
We did lots of little hikes...
and lots of laughing along the way...
All of the cousins loved touching reptiles at Reptile Gardens...
Dominic's favorite was the giant yellow python!
He thinks Grandma Theresa should get one for a pet :)
The giant tortoises seemed as ancient as the dinosaurs!
We also saw wildlife along the road...
and wildlife IN the road!
These donkeys are nicknamed the "begging burros" :)
We also made a trip to Bear Country USA,
a highlight for the whole crew...
It was surreal to see giant bears surrounding us,
and even crossing the road in front of us!
But the best part was the baby bears,
who were so playful and just plain adorable...
They climbed the trees like it was as easy as walking,
and would even play-fight high up in the branches!
It was so cute to watch them wrestle,
and made you want to take one home as a cuddly pet!
Bear Country not only had bears,
but fox, mountain lions, big horn sheep, and many other animals.
In the evenings, we enjoyed hanging out around the campfire,
and eating smores, of course!
The kids had a blast catching and collecting fireflies for hours every night!
During the day there was plenty of time for outdoor pastimes like bocce ball...
More hiking...
Card playing...
...and LOTS of eating...
(good thing we had a big table for our big crew!)
...thanks to our 3 great chefs for the week!
Thanks, Steve, Mike and Jon!
We love you, Mom and Dad!
Thanks for the great anniversary celebration together!
We pray you have many, many more anniversary together!!!
P.S. We were also blessed to have a professional photographer come take some family photos, but I'll save those pictures for another post coming soon! :)
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