Happy 50th Anniversary!

Happy 50th Anniversary Gway & Pa!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

We had a great time at our 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration. The WHOLE fam was there (oops...except for Sam. We missed you, Sam!!) We spent 4 full days playing together in a condo in Midway. The very last night we all gathered together and each of us shared a memory of Gway & Pa. Some memories were hysterical and some were emotional, but it was a wonderful time sharing a smidgen of love that we have for our favorite Gway & Pa!

Them

Their cake

Them cutting their cake

Them & their kids

Them, their kids, & their kids' kids. Oh...and their kids' spouses. (Oh, and Brad & Kaiser too!)(Thank you AGAIN B&B for letting us crash your place for dinner!!!)

A few of the memories the Stokes Folks shared of Gway & Pa:

Jeff's Memory: Of being a small boy en route to piano lessons at Uncle Kens with Gway behind the wheel AND Gway getting ANOTHER ticket on that SAME road AGAIN!!! Jeff also shared the story of Pa as a teenager racing home one night so he wouldn't get in trouble for being home late. Pa unknowingly passed his own dad...going well over the speed limit Well...when his dad got home, he didn't say anything to Pa, he just walked over to him and asked for the car keys!

My Memory: Shortly after we were married, we attended Dad's retirement in California. We had 2 hotel rooms. Jeff & I & Pa were in one room, Pete, Stacie, & Gway were in the other room. At about 2am, after being unable to sleep because of Pa's snoring, I stormed out of our room in my jamies & pounded on Gway's door. I crawled into bed with Gway and... wasn't able to sleep there either because of HER snoring!

Garet's Memory: All the fun we had in Hawaii last fall with them! And that was a LOT of fun!!!

Karlee's Memory: Being baby-sat by them as Jeff & I traveled the world. One day in particular she remembered. The kids talked Gway into letting them have ice cream for lunch. You know how Grandma's are. They happily ate ice cream that day for lunch. Well, that night Gway was away and Pa was in charge. The kids proceeded to talk Pa into letting them have ice cream for dinner (he didn't know they'd just had ice cream for lunch!) What a GREAT day! Aren't Grandparents the BEST!!!

A most dear memory I have of my Gway & Pa actually happened before Jeff & I were married: As we were dating, I (being the heathen non-LDS girl) was not overly welcomed by the Stokes. They were never mean or rude, but just not OVERLY excited I was around. Anyways, when Jeff announced to his parents that we were getting married they really were not very happy about it! (Thank goodness I wasn't there for that one!) Of course Jeff told me their reaction - yikes! I was quite nervous and not looking forward to my next visit to their home. BUT guess what happened when I walked in their door!!!! Before I was even 3 steps into their home I was greeted by a bear hug from Gway! And I have received those bear hugs for over 22 years now!

Thank you, Gway & Pa for loving me, my hubby (your son) & my kids (your grand kids). I love you and appreciate you both more than you'll ever know!

Happy 50th Anniversary, Gway & Pa!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!