60th Anniversary Party

On Sunday we had the opportunity to celebrate my Grandma and Grandpa Mech's 60th wedding anniversary.  Their actual anniversary is June 11, the same day as Timmy's baptism birthday, but since that was a Thursday we waited until Sunday to celebrate.   The weather was great (for the day at least) and we were able to spend a lot of time outside and just hanging out.  We also had a house showing so we took Bud with us and staked him in the backyard.  We did this for a few reasons 1) my grandma doesn't allow dogs in the house because she doesn't like them; 2) it was too crowded in the house for a dog to be wandering around; 3) he had more room to hang out and was able to meet more people outside.  

It's funny to think how much has changed since their 50th anniversary.  I had just graduated from high school, my cousin Ryan was only 5/6 months old, I had never had a boyfriend, my parents lived in Nebraska...the list could go on.  Now, both Paul and I are married, I've got a kid, my uncle Don had a stroke, I have another cousin, my parents are moving from Nevada...again the list could go on.  It's so interesting to see how things change in such a short time.

You know that old saying that the more things change the more they stay the same?  This applied to the party, and all family get togethers really.  When we were little we were always outside playing and going inside just for food.  Now the adults still congregate inside or by the picnic table and we stay outside with the little kids watching them so their parents can socialize.  I know a lot of this comes more from the age differences than anything else (I think the people closest in age to Paul and I were our uncle Dan, aunt Diane, and my dad's cousin Bobby).  It's so weird to have a kid who is only a year younger than my dad's cousin's kid.  Oh well.  At least Timmy plays well with others, even if he is a little more passive than I would like (he's completely fine with kids taking things from him, well, not completely fine with it but he doesn't fight back at all).  

Well, I'm off to get things ready for Joplin.  I am hoping to leave by 6 or 7 tomorrow and that Timmy will take a nap in the car.  It should be interesting.  The last time I did a trip this long it was 5 years ago when we went to Gretchen and Nate's wedding in Nebraska.  The longest trip we've done with Timmy in the car has been to Minnesota, so we know he can make it at least that long.  Should be a fun trip though, even if we spend most of the time helping unpack.