We had a very special weekend over July 8th through 10th in Nashville this summer. All of my dad’s side of the family got together to celebrate my grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary. It has gotten harder and harder over the years to get all fourteen (now 15!) of us together now that the grandkids have work commitments and such. But alleluia, we made it happen, and I’m here to document it.
Grandmother and Daddy Jim got married in June of 1956. Wasn’t her dress just gorgeous? I love it. They brought their wedding album and these photos for everyone to enjoy.
One of the big things I took away from the Making Things Happen conference in March was to look at the days of my life as the essential building blocks of what I want my overall life to look like. One of the questions we asked ourselves there to start was: what do you want to have done with your life when you’re 80? (And then how can you shape your days now to get there?) One of the biggest things for me was to be able to be by Will’s side and surrounded by kids and kids-in-law and grandkids who are happy to spend time together. Will and I have talked about that a lot, and this weekend was a beautiful picture of a success story on that front. Grandmother and Daddy Jim have much to be proud of, and I would imagine the legacy of this family is a big one for them.
We spent a lot of time just hanging out around the house, and the most important thing was just to be together and catch up.
Anniversary Dinner Photos
On Saturday night, we had a private room at Urban Grub for dinner, so of course I took that as an opportunity to take lots of photos. This is the original Moreton family of five (and the three boys being the reason why we are (were) all Moretons.
And these are Grandmother and Daddy Jim’s six grandkids, two from each son. Can you tell which one my brother is? Ha. I feel like the other four look alike.
Here’s another shot of the fifteen for good measure! I need a wider angle lens, but we did our best.
And here they are! July 9, 2016
Grandkid table! Sorry, Will.
Other Nashville Activities
We had a pretty low-key weekend, but we also toured the Belle Meade Plantation and Opryland! Opryland used to be a theme park, but now it is a crazy hotel and convention center next door to the Grand Ole Opry. It’s famous for its indoor river and plants. It’s kind of like being in a big greenhouse with lots of shopping and restaurants and bridges. 
On Friday night we ordered food in, and other than those three outings on Saturday and church on Sunday we mostly just hung out in the houses we rented and played games. The Moreton cousins LOVE to play cards, and James and John always have to re-explain the rules to every game for me. I forget how to play every time, and they make fun of me, but they are very patient with my stupid plays because I don’t know what I’m doing (most of the time). 
Meeting Baby Amelia!!!
Last, but certainly not least, I was SO excited that the Nashville location also meant that I got to meet Miss Amelia Kathleen Thompson! She is pure perfection. Look at how she is looking at the camera in this photo! It was so fun to see Paige as a mom and hear all about life with a newborn!
We’re wearing different outfits, because we had to go over there Saturday AND Sunday. There’s never enough time to catch up with old friends and never enough sweet Millie snuggles.
The poses!
That’s about it! It was a great weekend focusing on what matters in life, and that is always the most productive weekend we can have. 🙂
