AUTUMN AGAIN

I'm never ready for summer to be over, but it's September and it's autumn again....

• Cooler temperatures

• Sunflowers blooming except for a couple tall stalks. My fingers are crossed that they bloom before the snow falls. 

• Fireweed has all turned to cotton

• Hunting season  

Grandson, Kaiden, gets a caribou

• Bon fires and wiener roasts

• Back to school 

Granddaughters - Izzy & Maddy (left to right)

Freshmen in High School

• Yellow leaves and mushrooms

• Digging potatoes

• Bringing in tomato plant to ripen 

• Northern Lights

• Our nights return after a summer of long days. (We'll continue to lose daylight for the next 14 weeks and then start gaining daylight again.)

• Annual trip up to Murphy Dome where my Mom and Dad’s ashes are scattered.  

•  Back to knitting  

• The lawn furniture and hammock have been put away, and the flower beds have been cleaned out.

• The geese are flying south  🥲

• We're back to sweatshirts and long pants...but I'm still wearing my flip-flops. 

50 Years Together

Dave and I celebrated our 50th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY this month.  

Our anniversary is on July 30th, but our kids planned a surprise party for us on the day AFTER our grandson, Andrew's, wedding.

Dave was honored to be the one to tie the knot for Andrew and Carina in a lovely outdoor wedding.

"I Do's"

Andrew and Carina and the uninvited guest in the background

Day One of being Mr. & Mrs. and

Welcome to the Family, Carina!

Granddaughters

 Maid of Honor (Izzy) and Bridesmaid (Maddy)

Grandsons

 Best Man (Kaiden) and Groom (Andrew)

Jami

Mother of the Groom

The Anniversary Party SURPRISE blew up when I started making some plans on my own a couple weeks before the party. This forced the kids to reveal the surprise that they, along with Nancy, had been planning for almost a year.  I was really sorry to ruin the surprise, but it was fun looking forward to it. The party was at the same location as the wedding, using some of the same decorations.  

This is what 50 years together looks like. 

• We enjoyed family coming in from out-of-town:

Nancy and Brandon (SIL & nephew) from PA.

They came in early (7/3) to help with the wedding and

anniversary party.

Our son-in-law's parents from MN, and

sister and niece from CO,

who were in town for the wedding. 

• PRIO to the wedding and anniversary party..... 

• We played many, many games of Nertz and Ultimate Nertz.

Ultimate Nertz

Nancy, Nicole, Andrew, Jami & Brandon

The one who most always lost was taking the picture - ME! 

 

• We enjoyed family lunches and dinners, along with many trips through coffee stands and McDonald's drive-thru.

Lunch at Salty's

Jami, Nancy, Brandon, Nicole, Maddy, Izzy

Dave and I not pictured

• We had a fun time creating our own pottery masterpieces at Raven City Studios.   

• We celebrated Matt & Jami’s 22nd anniversary (7/10)

 

💕 💕 💕

 

BACK TO THE ANNIVERSARY PARTY...

• We were joined by three other couples who have been married 50+ years:

Ed & Sandy (56 years); Wayne & Karen (56 years);

Ted & Joan (51 years); Kathy & Dave (50 years)

We're in good company! 

• Lots of fun guests pictured and several not pictured. 

Wayne, Pamela and Anja

(Wayne and I worked at the Alaska Railroad, and

Anja was one of my piano students many years ago.) 

Holly

The Trotzke's

Conan, Carrie, Josh, Sara,

Susie, Rick, Kim and Debbie

Wayne and Karen

THANK YOU for your generosity

in letting us use your property for the

Wedding and Anniversary Party. 

Kaiden and Rylee

Diana

• Our hearts are full of gratitude for those who planned this event...

Matt, Jami, Izzy and Kaiden

Nicole, Geoff and Maddy

Brandon and Nancy

• ...and for those who celebrated with us. THANK YOU for the cards, gifts and especially your PRESENCE.  It's a memory we'll always cherish. We've also enjoyed many cards and well-wishes from those not present.  

• Our song:  “Still the One”  by Orleans  

• What is our anthem for 50 years going forward?

I Will Survive?

Back In The Saddle Again?

Amazing Grace?

Help?

Love Me Tender

Don’t be Cruel, 

or

   Great is Thy Faithfulness.  

(Written by Karen Heimer)

50 years together and still going strong!

75th Birthday CARD Highlights...

I love to receive snail mail and, thanks to my daughter who invited my friends to send cards, I received 75+ cards for my 75th birthday this year. 

• Birthday paper cards are special and are filled with smiles, love and happy memories.
• A Stash “Christmas in Paris” tea bag was included in one card. I can share a cup of the senders favorite tea. 
• Enjoy the little things.
• Beautiful hand made cards are also patterns that I can later use.
• A hand delivered, hand made card was a wonderful surprise from a friend I hadn’t seen in years. It also included a real live hug! 
• I’m not getting old, I’m getting awesome.
• A Starbuck’s gift card included in the card when the sender is too far away to have coffee with.
• My times are in His hands - my early years, my middle years, and my later years. No time is better or greater than another, for all of my years work together in God’s marvelous plan for my life. (Roy Lessin)
• I’m older, so what? I only get better…at kicking time’s butt!
• God amazes me with His grace and sprinkles my days with miracles. 
• Cards filled with birthday wishes for days full of love, years full of joy and a heart full of happiness, laughter, lasting friendships, amazing memories, hope, peace, faith, happy surprises.
• I love the sparkly cards and the trail of sparkle they leave behind. 
• Personal notes filled with love, memories, encouraging words.
• 3/4 of a century looks better expressed as a DIAMOND MILESTONE.
• A shaker card filled with sequins reminds me to “Scatter Joy.”
• Don’t count the birthdays….treasure the memories.
• The more birthdays you have, the more memories you make. 
• Gift cards & fun stickers tucked inside cards.
• An acrostic of my name:  Kind, Authentic, Tender hearted, Helpul, Young at heart
• A year of new adventures.
• I’m not getting any older this year, heck, I was already old last year.  😂  
• If wisdom comes with AGE…I must be one heck of a smart ass by now! 🤣
• It’s a blessing being able to look back and count all the odds I’ve beaten, people I’ve loved, and joys I’ve experienced in my life so far.
• Appreciate how much living it took to arrive where I am today (#75).
• It warmed my heart to read: “Happy Birthday to a wonderful Aunt…who holds a special place in my heart.” 
• A list of 75 Truths I love about you (ways and reasons I’m grateful for you) from a dear friend, has been so fun and enlightening to read. 
• Age is nothing but a State of Mind.
• I’m not old…I’ve just been young for a very long time. 

Many thanks to all who sent cards, AND texts. 

I'm overwhelmed with your expressions of love.  

WE CELEBRATE SERBIAN CHRISTMAS

We celebrate Serbian Christmas in honor of my Mom. 

Her parents were both from Austria, Hungary: John Zakich came to America in 1904 on the Carpathia, where his name was changed to Zakit. Theresa Istene came to America with her father in 1906, leaving behind 3 sisters. John & Theresa were married January 8, 1911 in Bay City, Michigan and lived on a farm raising sugar beets. They later moved to Akron, Ohio where they raised eight children - my mother, Theresa Zakit Covey, being number five. 

Their family would celebrate Serbian Christmas every year on January 7th. As a child, I don’t ever remember celebrating it, but as Mom got older she started celebrating it again with our children and grandchildren. We would always get together for a meal at Mom and Dad’s house and she would pass on stories of her youth and there would always be a gift for the kids. 

After she passed away in 2008, we have continued to celebrate Serbian Christmas as a family.  

This year, because of a positive COVID test and a time of quarantine, we had to postpone our celebration until the 17th of January - but we still celebrated. I usually keep our Christmas tree and decorations up until after Serbian Christmas; however, this year because of the delay, all the Christmas decorations had been put away. Instead, we had streamers and my small Valentine tree for decorations. 

In the past, Mom told us that some years their Christmas stockings only had oranges, apples, nuts and an onion. In this year’s gift bag for the kids, I included an orange, apple, nuts, candy and a little cash, but no onion! When everyone opened their gift bags it was interesting that several cracked open and ate the walnuts and we (except for the grandkids) reminisced about the nut bowls filled with a variety of nuts along with a nut cracker around our homes at Christmas. Good memories.

It was a fun evening to be together, to celebrate our heritage and eat pizza.  

I don't know how much longer we'll keep this tradition going, but for now I think it  would make my Mom happy if she knew we were keeping her memory alive by celebrating Serbian Christmas.