Stepping Back 65 Years in Time....

 65 years - yeah, that's even more years than I've lived upon this earth.  But it is the length of time my parents have been married to each other.  Their anniversary came in February and to help celebrate it, this is the idea my sister came up with and made sure it happened.  We had a majority come, but we missed David and Petra, and also Ron's Joy and Connie's Bob.   So the family was not quite complete, but we got as many together as we could.

So this is how it played out:
Brent and I drove up from Utah early Saturday morning, Feb. 22.  We met up with other family members in a parking lot in Rupert.  Arnie and Vicki, Connie, and Ron were all waiting for us by the time we got checked into our hotel (arriving way early) and made it over to the rendezvous location (now late).  Susie and Charles had come up the night before and were staying overnight at Mom and Dad's "just because they wanted to come up for the weekend," so they were at the house trying hard to get Mom and Dad to get moving without giving away our surprise.

After the rest of us were together, we drove over to my parent's apartment all together.  Dad heard the cars coming up their little road, and made some comment about a bunch of people coming to use the dumpster next to their home.

But when Mom answered the door and saw us all standing there, she looked bewildered, confused, and then a huge grin broke across her face as she realized who her visitors were.  It still took a few minutes for her to collect her wits and invite us inside, however.  

Fortunately for us, Mom and Dad were great sports when they found out what we were planning.  We had them get dressed up and gather their little suitcases with their temple clothes packed inside and we drove over to the Twin Falls Idaho LDS Temple, where Susie had made an appointment for the family to do a sealing session.

(If anyone reading this is not familiar with our faith, or the purpose of temples, here is a link to help you understand this:   'What happens in temples')

It was a beautiful, sunny day (but cold) when we all arrived at the temple.  The drivers dropped the riders off and then went and parked the cars out in the parking lot.

My sister Susie and her husband Charles, and Arnie's wife Vicki.

Flowers were already blooming on the temple grounds.

My handsome father.

Vicki, Arnie, Charles and Susie at the doors to the temple.

And then all ten of us entered through the doors to the Temple.  We had a wonderful experience there as a family.  It was a great way to remember and think again about the unique promises made to God and He, in turn, makes to us.  It was a perfect way to celebrate the day my parents were married for eternity.

L-R:  Me, Connie, Arnie, Mom, Dad, Ron, and Susie.

After the temple, we went to Johnny Carinos for dinner.   Dad loves lasagna, and that made the choice easy.

Connie brought out a beautiful corsage for Mom and a striking boutonniere for Dad, gifts from all of us to them.  And we treated them to dinner.

 We visited and laughed and joked and teased each other in a way only siblings seem to do, the food was great and the service matched.  It was a fun evening.  By the time we left, the sun was just sinking beyond the western horizon.  We returned to Mom and Dad's home to enjoy carrot cake, complements of Connie.   And there we continued to visit and laugh and joke and tease each other.

Arnie got hold of David via cell phone and we were even able to get him in on the conversation.  It was good to hear his voice.

We had a wonderful time pampering our dear parents for a day.

Click here to go to other photos posted on FB.