I'll Treasure This: Smoky Mountains Reunion, Part 2: The BIG Surprise!

On the second day of our reunion, my cousin, Mary, had a surprise party for her parents, my Aunt Pat and Uncle Bob. We were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, and since they were married on Christmas Day, we outfitted the room with wintery decorations. My aunt and uncle were not able to have a large reception after their wedding, so having this event with their family was such a wonderful idea!

Here we are getting ready to surprise the guests of honor.

My brother-in-law, my husband, and my nephew just before the big moment

My nephew, Will, checked to see if they were coming...

My Aunt Pat walked in...

my uncle too...

SURPRISE!!!

WHAT?! (They were definitely surprised! Yay, we pulled it off!)

Tear started flowing between the two sisters, my Aunt Pat and my mom!

Awww!

A special moment between Aunt Pat, Uncle Bob, and their sweet daughter, Mary.

A gift from their children and grandchildren: a framed collage of wedding and anniversary pictures

Mary made a CD full of my aunt and uncle's favorite music from throughout their married life. We listened to it at the party, and everyone got their own copy of it to take home!

Something Old: A prayer book that my Aunt Pat carried in her wedding
Something New: Aunt Helen's rosary...I think my mom gave it to my aunt
Something Borrowed: My cousin Diana's cake cutter
Something Blue: A Christmas ornament with a blue ribbon

Here's my Aunt Pat taking it all in!

Shedding a few tears, of course!

My mom, my aunt and my cousin...I love these ladies!

My aunt and I shared a few tears as well!

My dad and my aunt...She and my uncle introduced my parents to each other years ago!

A toast to the happy couple, given by my cousin Tom, celebrating 60 years of wedded bliss!

My brother-in-law, Jim, toasted my parents, who celebrate their 50th in just a couple of years. Another reunion, anyone?! Hmmm...might be too long to wait to get this fun group together again. As my mom said, maybe we should celebrate 49. ;)

The "head table"

The Gerrard sisters...SISTER PIC!

Aunt Pat and her girls (daughter, daughter-in-laws, and granddaughter)

All because two people fell in love! Aunt Pat, Uncle Bob and their children, John, Jim, Mary and Tom

Jim and his wife, Marci

Aunt Pat and her daughter-in-law, Diana (I don't have a picture of Tom and Diana.)

Mary, her husband, Patrick, and their daughter, Megan

I don't have a picture of John and Sue together at the party, but these are their children, Andrew, Mary and Caroline Reese.

Uncle Bob with his sweet granddaughter, Caroline

She wore such a beautiful dress to the party!

And because these two fell in love...

they had 4 children too: Karen (not pictured), Lisa, Sarah, and Bill (not pictured). Hopefully Karen and Bill will be able to come to the next reunion!