happy 40th anniversary Mum & Dad

Love is knowing someone completely and totally and still loving them, in spite of the things that make your head explode.

My mum and dad celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary last weekend and their love and relationship is an inspiration. Neither of them are perfect. And they certainly drive each other crazy from time to time, but when you hear the concern in Dad's voice as he talks about Mum's health or see the look on Mum's face as Dad spins her round on the dance floor, in those moments you are seeing true love in its most beautiful and most enduring form.

They wanted to celebrate this milestone with just us, their immediate family, so we joined my sister's family and Mum and Dad at the Ventnor Hotel in Port Vincent for dinner. We had actually all been at Pt Vincent for the Australia Day weekend, so it wasn't like it was so special to all be catching up, but it was special to not have to cook dinner or do the dishes!

My sister, Roxy, and I wanted to add a little something special to the evening, and, even though I actually make greeting cards for a living, I had forgotten to get a card from work, so my daughter (Miss M) and I wandered off to the local shops to see what we could buy to decorate the table and make a card with. I was hoping for some love heart confetti, but no luck. Instead we bought some love heart stickers, regular confetti, red and gold card, and some valentines cards to cut up. (Thank goodness it's nearly Valentines Day!)

We brought our loot home and Miss M got stuck into making a card. She has such an Intrinsic heart, the poem she wrote on the front of the card is so special. Roxy's boys also wanted to get in on the action and both drew beautiful pictures for Mum and Dad.

I got to work on the table decorations, and cut up love hearts out of the left over paper. I wrote little messages on the back of the hearts, which Mum really liked. I also cut up the valentines cards and cut the letters Newton loves Sue out of card.

Miss M and I went down to the pub early to decorate the table and to make sure the drinks were all on the table ready for when the guests of honour arrived. They absolutely loved it.

We had a great meal and as we were finishing our dinner, the weather started to change and we watched the clouds rolling across the gulf, and then the water crashing over the jetty. We had no choice but to walk home in the wind and the misty rain. It was still quite warm though and the weather had quite a magical quality to it. Miss M loved the wind and rain and danced out on the balcony when we got home like a water sprite.

Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad xx

Have you reached a milestone celebration recently, how do you like to commemorate your special life events, do you like to decorate up a storm and have lots and lots of people, or do you like to keep it quiet with just close family or your besties?