Our 25th Anniversary Celebration

On August 1st David & I celebrated 25 years of marriage. What a wonderful accomplishment. Love is a decision and 25 years together has been a time of joy, laughter, happy memories and growing together through difficulties. God has been gracious and merciful to us and watched over us.

I look forward to another 25 years and more with David but will appreciate each day that we have together and my decision to love him will continue to be the same as the day I married him but with a deeper understanding and love that grows each day and year.





On Tuesday, August 1st David woke me up before he went to work and gave me a beautiful diamond ring to go with my exisiting engagement and wedding ring. It is to celebrate our 25 years of marriage. I look at it and it reminds me that just as it is the foundation to my 3 rings so our love is the foundation to our 25 years of marriage. I Love You David!



On Saturday, August 5th we had a party to celebrate our 25 years of marriage. I figured it only happens once in your lifetime so we why not celebrate. Wahoo! The next few entries in this blog are a journal of our celebration! I invite you to share in our joy.

Before our guests arrived Tyler and Jen came to us and presented David and I with a beautiful arrangement of 25 roses. Yellow being the color of my wedding flowers and coral being the color that I wore to their wedding last year. They were a lovely centrepiece and are giving off a beautiful fragrance.

For our 25th anniversary celebration we prepared a barbecue for our family and friends. And contrary to popular belief - David can barbecue. I have the picture to prove it and he did a FANTASTIC job!

The Guests arrive

Our daughters' Best Wishes

Missie lives in Charleston, South Carolina and Becky lives in Prince George, BC and neither were able to come to our celebration but they both sent their wishes via modern technology.

Missie, a poet, wrote us a beautiful poem:

Sailing Through Life

Sailing takes two:
one to steer,
another to pull the line,
and both eyes on approaching clouds.

Sailing requires a feel for the sea;
an understanding of the rythm of the waves,
the direction of the current,
the neccesity of wind.
A boat may get tossed about,
but a good crew can steer her home.

Sailing needs passion;
a passion for order,
for straight lines, clean decks, carefully stowed ropes,
a passion for abandon,
for full sails, for speed.
Sailing requires balance.

Few can handle the challenge,
but those who do
rise above the waves with joy in their hearts.



I am proud of both of you mom and dad for continuing to wrok on being in love, and continuing to grow and learn together, it is the best example I could have in life. I love you both and congratulations on your quarter century together. Keep sailing.

Missie

And Becky wrote:

Well, I must admit I've sat down at the computer trying to write something that is special to such an occasion. But as my father would say "I'm still so young and have little life experience" so with that said I guess I can only talk about the 18 years I have been a part of your faithful 25 years of marriage.

As a child I remember peeking around the corner and catching my parents standing in the kitchen mid make out session! I remember watching my parents gaze into each others loving eyes and just simply smile. The way they always put each others' feelings before their own. The simple care they expressed each other everyday has always shown me how two people shoud live together.

Dad:

I hope you have come to accept Maureen's quirks.
Such as:
Her ability to be happy and chipper at 6 in the morning. (that one gets me every morning!)
Her instant interogation when you walk in through the door after work.
Her soft but yet irratated tone she will use during an argument.
And all those little tihngs that are shared between you two. I hope you have come to appreciate what makes Maureen so special.

Despite all those "horrible" things...over the 25 years I hope you can still look at her and love all of her. And More.

Mom:

I hope you have come to accept David's quirks.
Such as:
His ability to flick through every TV channel every five minutes.
His witty sarcasim that you just sometimes don't understand. (Dad don't worry I get your jokes)
His undeniably stubborn attitude during an argument.
Mom, I hope you have come to love David more and more every day and understand what makes this particular man so special.

Despite all those "horrible" things...over the 25 years I hope you can still look at him and love all of him and more.

Funny how your first 25 years of marriage was focused on three little ones! But NOW, they are all gone (well basically...) So now it is just the two of you...alone...for the next 25 years. My only advice I can give Dad is...she is always right.

I was blessed with two amazing and loving parents. They have definitely given me a great example as how I should treat my significant other and accept someone for who they are and who they aspire to be. I love you two very much. Thank you for your dedication to this wonderful family of ours! Congratulations on this joyous day! Enjoy the next 25 years.

Love your Daughter
Rebecca Marie Peters

1981

We were married in 1981 so I thought it would be good to see if everyone remembered any of the events of 1981. I put questions around the yard and split the group up in pairs to try and answer the quiz questions.

Questions like: Prince Charles and Lady Diana were married in July 1981. What was her maiden name? What was the name of the cathedral where they were married.

How do you think you'd do?

Limmericks

For a fun game I put everyone into groups and the groups had to write a limmerick staring with "There once was a boy named David", or "There once was a girl named Maureen", or "There once was a couple named Peters". The limmericks were a good laugh. Here are a couple of them:

There once was a boy named Dave
Who ended up marrying a slave
He thought she odd but she had a great bod
So soon he became her knave.


There once was a girl named Maureen
A Princess o-so-serene
One day she met Dave
Was he knight or was he knave?
Regardless he made her his queen.

Wedding Dress Portraits

I put on my wedding dress for everyone and for some fun I had them form groups and then they had to do a portrait of me.








I gave each group a set of acrylic paints, felt pens and paper. The rules were that each member of the group had to contribute twice to the portrait. I was amazed at the outcomes for the portraits. There was lots of laughter and the products were fab - concerning they only had a few mintues. Notice the picaso one!

My Gift to David

To commemerate our 25th anniversary I gave David a painting of his favourite artist. I chose this painting as it symbolized our marriage. It is a picture of 2 trees on a hillside. The winds have come and they have bent some because of the force but they are still standing strong and beautiful -together. Just like our marriage. And the one tree is leaning over and protecting the other tree - I see that as David has always been there to protect me throughout the rough times.

Dad Spoke

Dad said:

"I love anniversaries. They speak about endurance, consistency, a treasured memory. I remember the day, when as a pastor of the church David and Maureen attended, I had the honor and privilege of "tying the knot". Just 3 days prior to their wedding 25 years ago Prince Charles of Great Britain had married Diana who then became Princess Diana. the whole world heard about the Royal Wedding.

Unfortunately, Charles and Diana's relationship became estranged as husband and wife and the knot that tied them together slipped...and history records the rest of the story.

What the world didn't hear was that a young couple, in the little town of Hope, BC spoke the same vows of love and commitment. So, today, I'm going public - It's on my blogspot. CONGRATULATIONS on 25 years of service, err servitude...I mean servand hood. David, I'm sure it hasn't always been bliss but always blessed. Some waters you have passed through may have been muddy, but secure in each other's arms you held steady. David you handsome prince, build your castle with the strength of LOVE AND COMMITMENT with which you laid the foundation. Maureen, you charming princess, life hasn't always been fair, but you have always made it fun. Bring the music of the soul into your palace. Dance with your prince through dark days as well as the bright days. Remember the cords that tied you together are unbreakable, when they are made with LOVE.

From a paraphrase of scripture:

Love never gives up
Love cares more for others than for self
Love doesn't strut.
Doesn't have a swelled head
Doesn't force itself on others
Isn't alwyas: Me First
Doesn't fly off the handle
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others
Trusts God Always
Always looks for the best

And then Dad prayed a blessing over us.

Thanks Dad, we love you.