We made plans months ago for an early celebration with our family of ten in Walla Walla for Greg and my 50th wedding anniversary. Our actual anniversary is on December 6th but getting the ten of us together that time of year can be difficult. We decided on Walla Walla which was a place none of us had been to before. Laura researched the areas Airbnb options and we looked at a couple possibilities and decided on the Italian Villa. We locked in our dates that were good for each family unit and started making plans. On Saturday the 29th of June our four vehicles had driven equal distances from the northeast of Washington and the Western Puget Sound area of Washington to arrive here.
When Greg and I arrived at four we were in for a special surprise from our kids.
Who are those young kids!?
Dan’s macarons arranged in the numerals to celebrate our 50 years!
Laura retrieved photos from each of our kids’ weddings to add to ours for this special memorial photo collage. This is the message included in the photo collage…
They also had t-shirts made for us. All these things were a fun surprise and great beginning for our time together.
Thank you to all our kids for how you love and honor us!!
We all had our own bedrooms and each couple had their own bathroom. Not too shabby. Plenty of room for all of us to spread out.
We got settled and then got ready for dinner out at Yama’s Greek Eats in downtown Walla Walla. This would end up being our family favorite out of three restaurants we ate at. If you find yourself in Walla Walla eat here!
Our first day of celebration came to a close with excitement about pool time on Sunday and another special event. More to come, soon.
Our gifts have found their special place in our home.
We are currently in a heat wave and staying cool inside as much as possible. Hope all is well in your corner.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
An amazing place to stay and well done on celebrating a huge milestone. Lovely to have those family times. B x
Barbara, Thank you. We are now busy making our plans for Scotland. Cheers!
Wow, the home was beautiful, your family picked a lovely place.
Love your family photos, what a fun time for everyone!
Take care, have a great day!
Thank you so much, Eileen. I appreciate the time to take to comment. 🙂
…congrates, you folks sure know how to party!
Tom, thank you. Yes, we enjoy being together.
And wishing you many more happy years together. You have an amazing family
Thank you for your kind comment!
Beautiful house you found to rent. How amazing were those surprises from your kids! Speaking of kids, you two sure do look young in your wedding photo (it´s a great pic!). Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.
Thank you, Maria. We were 21 and 23 when we got married.
What thoughtful children you and your dear husband have raised that they would make such a special effort to make your 50th wedding anniversary so memorable. You are blessed, Ellen, and I know you already know that.
We are in another heatwave as well. 93 is the predicted for today and 76 for our low tonight. So we will be spending our time indoors today too.
Dianna, I always appreciate hearing from you. Stay cool. We are very close to 100 as I type.
How fun! I love all the little things your family did. So sweet! What a wonderful place you had to stay.
We are currently getting the rains from Hurricane Beryl and under a flash flood warning. Just what I wanted to hear.
Hope you are successful at staying cool! LOL!
Monica, I hope the rains don’t cause more problems in your basement. We are avoiding going outside today so we are cool. 🙂
I love reading about and seeing pictures of your big close family! I love all of the gifts they gave you. I was thinking that pool looks wonderful!!
Lisa, thank you so much. The big and littles did enjoy that pool. I enjoyed watching. 🙂
May the Lord be your Guide and Helper every day, that is my wish. I thoroughly enjoyed the warm atmosphere that your photos radiate. Very beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Be careful with that intense heat. Can you handle it well?
https://momentsfrozentime.blogspot.com/
Aritha, thank you so much. As far as the heat goes we have air conditioning which makes it very tolerable.
Wow what a wonderful time. A beautiful place to celebrate a special day with your family.
Karen, it was a great time, thank you.
What a lovely celebration your children organized! The villa looks spacious and beautiful.
The heat here is keeping me indoors today.
Thank you, Lorrie. You are not alone in staying indoors these days. Welcome home.
How wonderful Ellen! I think that’s the nicest AirBnB I have ever seen! Lovely celebrations and the photos showed all of you having such a great time with all those smiling faces. And all the decorations along with your wedding photos! Fantastic! Thank you for sharing the joy!
Thank you, Denise. It was a great place to stay and wonderful to enjoy it with the whole family!
What a beautiful place and a wonderful celebration! We just celebrated our 50th!
Happy 50th to you!
So much to rejoice about, and that is certainly an ideal spot for a family to gather. Everyone will remember it for decades. Happy Anniversary! Glory to God for all His graces.
I love how you put it…Glory to God for all HIs graces. Yes! Thank you for stopping by…
Love love love the idea of celebrating early with lots of fun for everyone. Your kids are so creative and fun and thoughtful (love the message with the collage). Congratulations!
Happy 50th to you both! What a gorgeous villa you were able to rent!