Friday, February 28, 2020

💗 50th Anniversary 💗

💗 Yesterday my dear husband and I celebrated 50 years since we were married in Louisiana in 1970.  He picked me up from Multnomah Falls where I'd spent the afternoon volunteering in the Visitors Center with my lifelong friend Shirley.  Then we drove on to the Columbia Gorge Hotel for dinner, which is our tradition for many years.


This is a photo from when we were there a few years ago.



There is a garden in the front of the building with a neat bronze sculpture.


Our reservation was for 5:30 pm and this is the main dining room.



We always ask for a table by the windows overlooking the Columbia River.  



Perfect!  That is Washington State across the river.


The table is laid with these pretty plates, funny thing is they whisk them away before you are served your meal on a white plate.



Here is the love of my life, trying to figure out whether he should order the prime rib or a seafood pasta dish.  I knew right away I wanted the bacon wrapped filet mignon.  :-)


Mine was served with Bordelaise sauce, fingerling potatoes, broccolini and a carrot.  Yum!



Here we are 50 years ago.  I told the waiter that it was our 50th anniversary - when it came time to give us our bill he said - "I'm happy to tell you that someone has picked up your tab for dinner!".  We were amazed!  We figured out that it was the younger couple sitting at the table next to us.  He wouldn't tell us who, he said it was secret.  :-)

Dayle and I met in high school, I was a freshman, 14 and he was a junior, 16.  We went steady through high school and then he enlisted in the Army and headed off to boot camp and then flight school to fly helicopters in the Vietnam war.  I was talked into flying to Hawaii to live by one of my best friends.  I became a hippie while there, advocating for peace.  Poor Dayle was in 'Nam fighting a war.  He got shot while flying scout helicopters and ended up in traction in Seattle at an Army hospital.  When he returned home, I also returned home and we re-connected.  After he healed from his surgery he went back to Texas and sat on the flight school elimination board until he was retired from the service.  He then got a job flying for Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. in Louisiana.  After he visited me in Oregon we decided I'd fly down and see him where we decided to get married.  And the rest, as they say, is history.  :-)

I made that dress by buying a few yards of ivory satin fabric, then freehand, I cut out a big huge circle, cut the neck out, hand sewing the lace around the neck and sleeves and hem, then put some lace around the back to the front and pinned it on with a cameo pin.  I went to a florist and ordered the circlet and bouquet.  Dayle rented a tuxedo and we went off to a photographer to commemorate the occasion.

We went to a Justice of the Peace in Scott, LA where he married us.  We had no one to serve as witnesses so he had his son come out of the garage to sign and his DIL, too.  No big huge expensive wedding for us!  :-) 

Our daughter was born 2 years later, then a son 15 months after that and 3 years later our youngest son was born after we moved back to Oregon.


This painting was on our way out the door, isn't it neat?



Behind the hotel there is "Wah Gwin Gwin Falls", also known as Lullaby Falls, a waterfall of Phelps Creek located in the property of the historic Columbia Gorge Hotel, in Hood River County.  This is a photo I took a few years ago.


You can stand at the very top of the falls and look down as they fall 200 feet below.



I thought I'd share a few photos from earlier in the day.  This is Zev, the USFS Site Manager for MF.  He brought in his dog to show us.  She's a 6 month old Golden Retriever.



One of our visitors was this young girl who was in town to participate is a big regional spelling bee.  We gave her a Junior Ranger book which she filled out so we gave her a patch and bracelet.  If she wins this contest she'll go on to Washington DC for the big spelling bee!



I got more done on the border of my blanket while chatting with visitors.  But I have one and a half more rows to go to finish.  This photo shows the blanket way more yellow than it is.  



We have one of our grandsons here for the night, Hayden.  Caleb is off to a big math team competition with his school in Vancouver, WA.  We hope he wins!  Have a wonderful weekend.. any special plans?
((hugs)), Teresa :-)  

29 comments:

  1. Teresa, what a wonderful post, congratulations to you both, what a lovely romance and how beautiful you looked on your wedding day, your dress and flowers are both gorgeous. I'm glad you had a lovely meal out, that hotel is in an amazing spot. And how fantastic that someone paid your bill for you, what a kindness. I hope you both have a lovely weekend. CJ xx

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  2. Congratulations!We are now up to 53 years married.We are so lucky to have had all those years together.Long may it continue for you and us both.

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  3. Congratulations and Happy Anniversary. Fifty years of marriage is quite a milestone. I loved your wedding photo, such a handsome couple, you were a beautiful bride! You are making great progress on you blanket border!

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  4. Happy Anniversary! Congratulations on 50 years of marriage! I loved all the photos, and it was so sweet for someone to treat you to your special dinner.

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  5. You both look lovely in your wedding photo. Glad you had a good meal to celebrate and you didn’t have to pay. Lots of happy memories I guess. It will be forty years soon for us. Where does time go. Have a lovely weekend. B x

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  6. Happy anniversary Teresa & Dayle!!! Wow! The seventies...fun times. Fletch and I will celebrate 40 years in May. Time flies, doesn't it?

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  7. Happy 5th anniversary Teresa and Dayle💜 sounds like a fun day for you..We enjoy the gorge as well. Maybe we'll go there again this year for our 43 anniversary! Sometimes we just eat out locally and fins something fun to do. Have a good weekend!😍 🌹

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  8. Your wedding photo is just one of my favorite photos of all wedding photos ever. You look so beautiful and young and serious! I love love love the hippie look! Our photos were awful. We were nice looking kids, but our photos were awful. Shadows that any photographer would have worked around. He had us standing under a ledge in my mom's living room that had a philodendron and the infant of prague on it. Both protruded through our heads. Now I m thinking it is very funny. Anyhow I love your story

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  9. Happy Anniversary! And what a milestone one! You were a beautiful bride!

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  10. ❤️💐❤️Thanks for sharing with us the beautiful photos and narrative about your good day at the Falls and your celebration dinner (and reason for it) at the Columbia Gorge Hotel, Teresa. It is amazingly lovely that someone gifted you with secretly paying for the dinner! Happy Weekend! My special weekend plans so far include grocery shopping and meeting with family and friends at church 🤗

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  11. I enjoyed reading about your dinner at the Hotel. I was thrilled that someone paid for your meal for you. How sweet is that. What did Dayle end up choosing? Both the prime rib and your meal sound lovely to me. I always enjoy hearing about you and your romance with Dayle. I'm so happy for you both to make it to 50 years. That is a HUGE milestone in anyone's life.
    We had pizza with several friends tonight and we're meeting more friends for breakfast. I'm thinking we may be spending more time at home alone in the coming weeks so I plan to enjoy breakfast tomorrow and church on Sunday. Much love to you and Dayle and HaPpY AnNiVeRsArY my dear friends.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  12. Happy anniversary Teresa! What an amazing milestone!
    You were a beautiful bride!

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  13. Many congratulations on your 50th Anniversary.
    What a beautiful bride you were.
    Hugs-x-

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  14. Happy anniversary to you both. Here's to the next 50 years! What a lovely gesture for someone to pay your bill. xx

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  15. Fantastic Teresa and much love to you and Dayle 💙💙💖💖 50 fabulous years. Hello from cruise ship lol xxoo

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  16. Many, many congratulations to you both. Such a love story Teresa and I always love seeing your wedding photo. I can see your daughter in you so much. How kind that someone picked up the bill! We have Bear staying and we are off to see our kids tomorrow. Hugs xxx

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  17. Happy Anniversary! I enjoyed reading your story : )

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  18. Happy Anniversary Teresa and Dayle! You both look like film stars on your wedding photograph. The hippie girl and her soldier, it is a lovely story of you two meeting and reconnecting later on. Love how you made your own wedding dress, it looks fabulous. Enjoy the rest of your weekend xx

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  19. Congratulations on 50 years!

    We are 61 years married. -smile-

    What a beautiful bride you were and what a gorgeous couple, you made.

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  20. Congratulations on 50 years of marriage! I love that you go to the same beautiful place for your anniversary each year and to have someone surprise you by paying for it is truly a lovely gift. I hope you both enjoy many more. xx Susan

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  21. You made your dress???? and the head wreath of flowers... Oh, my goodness, you were a beautiful, beautiful bride. What lovely memories, and what an awesome photo of the two of you. I love romance, but I love your happy "now" even more.
    Thank you so much for sharing with us. A true love story.

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  23. Hello Teresa and many congratulations. You looked beautiful and so clever of you to make the dress!The setting for your celebration is beautiful.
    celebrate 49 years this year. Hugs Anne X
    PS please delete previous comment/s - I am pressing send too soon!

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  24. Happy Anniversary Teresa! Wow, 50 years! That is amazing. I am so proud of both of you because as we know marriage is not always easy but you two have done your best to work through the tough times and celebrate the good times. I am so far behind in blog reading but want you to know that even if it is hard for me to visit you are always in my thoughts.

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  25. Thanks for sharing your very special day! I am also aiming for 50:) Your dinner date and the Columbia Hotel looked lovely. You have a talent for expressing yourself and you should share that with your family so they can pass it on to your grandchildren;) Congrats again. Thanks for sharing!

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  26. Belated Happy Anniversary wishes, Teresa, from a new blog reader. Your blog was suggested by another blogger after I posted about looking for new (to me) blogs to enjoy. She was right. While I have only read a few posts here, I will be catching up on more. Thanks for sharing the details of your wedding and 50th anniversary dinner. How lovely that someone treated you too! If OK with you, I would like to include a link to your blog on my sidebar so I can return easily and I invite you to drop in for a visit as while. My blog name is Beatrice, in reality it’s Dorothy.

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  27. I got married 3 years after your picture was taken and had just about the exact same circlet of flowers-no veil. lol It was the time. Thanks for sharing your anniversary day.

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  28. What a lovely post :-), congratulations and thank you for sharing!
    I got married the same year, our 50 will be later this year.
    xx

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  29. Congratulations and I must say, what a beautiful couple you are. Thank you for sharing. xx

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