Valentine's Day also happens to be our wedding anniversary. Since this year is our thirtieth anniversay we decided to go out for dinner to an Indian restaurant with all the kids and some friends to celebrate. After dinner we all came home and had some champagne and cupcakes (which you can see pictures of here). It was a lovely evening and I can't think of a better way to spend our anniversary than being with family and friends eating yummy food.
I have been working on an anniversary memory book in secret over the past month and now that I have given it to hubby, I can share it with you. I made him a scrapbook with a page for each year we were married containing a brief description of what we did, where we went, and how old the children were, along with some photos from each year.
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| First page from our thirtieth anniversary book. |
Fortunately I had done the first twenty years we were married on our twentieth anniversary so I only had to do the next ten years.
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| First page from our twentieth anniversary book (the wedding invitation was taped to the inside of the cover). |
These just happened to be very busy years, though, so there was lots to remember. There were emails flying off to all the kids peppering them with questions about what year they had done this or that and how old they were when such and such happened. I think I got most of the facts right, which is good as my memory for the details is not going to get any better than it is now. I kept a little book with me at all times for a few weeks in which I would jot things down as I remembered them. When I finally had all the details right, I wrote up each year in a little text box and then printed them off.
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| One of the pages from the twentieth anniversary book (which might account for why I look so young). |
Then Kate helped me decide on the photos. This was no small feat since half the photos were in actual photographs and half were on discs. We did some rapid sorting and then I colour photocopied all the photographs and printed off the ones that we wanted from the CDs. I cropped the pictures and played with the arrangement so they would fit on a page.
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| Detail of one of the pages from the thirtieth anniversary book. |
I used some scrap-booking paper to add a bit of colour to each page. I had far less time to make the book this time so I just did my best to get all the information in, some representative photos from each event in that year, and a fairly even number of photos of each person in the family.
It is a fair amount of work to do, but so worth it to remember the main events of each year. I was shocked how much I had forgotten when I re-read the twentieth anniversary book. If you have weak memories like we do then this is a great present to make for a significant anniversary.
There are plenty more pages in the thirtieth anniversary book so I will be adding to it for our fortieth - or maybe I should start doing it every five years so it isn't such a strain to remember everything.
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| at the Indian restaurant |
Happy anniversary love. I'm looking forward to the next thirty years!
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That warmed my heart this valentines day to see all the effort you have put into this lovely book. I think almost everyone wishes thay had kept a better track, more photos and records of their past. I know I do.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about blogging is it is a diary of sorts. I try to log the day to day things and special events as my record. Too bad I didn;t do it years ago.
Have a very happy day and congratulations on a huge milestone.
Happy 30th Anniversary.
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of the two of you.
Have a lovely Valentine's day also.
FlowerLady
Happy Anniversary to you! What a lovely gesture to present him with such a heartfelt gift! I wish I had started one years ago. We've been together since high school in 1984 and it's incredible how much you forget as time goes by.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for following my blog and commenting on Barbara's interview at hodge:podge. It's so nice to "meet" someone else from the great white north! New Liskeard was always a little day trip drive when we were kids - you know, when mom was antsy to get out of town for a bit! :)
What a wonderful and thoughtful gift. I'm amazed you can remember back 10 years in detail; I can barely remember what I did last month. Happy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice memory book. I bet DH (dear husband) loved it! I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day, and a Happy Anniversary!
ReplyDeletexoxoxo,
Ricki Jill
Congratulations on 30 years! Wishing you at least 30 more together.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary! It's so sweet that it's on Valentine's Day too. The scrapbook is a lovely idea that will be treasured by your children someday too. You said that carried around a little notebook to jot things down when you remembered them. Maybe you should carry that around all the time and jot interesting events down as they occur so you don't have to remember them. I bet this blog will help you to remember as well.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on 30 years. I did the same sort of thing for our 25th and now every year add a few photos of the year's milestones. It is great to look back at the highlights. Here's to your next 30 together.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on celebrating your 30th!! It is so fun to have a peek at the kids when they were younger! How romantic to be married on Valentine's Day! Wishing you all the best for 30 more years! Angie xo
ReplyDeleteHappy 30th anniversary! In this day and age that is no small accomplishment and I just love that you created this book to celebrate your commitment to each other and the life you have built together. It is such a great idea and one I would love to try and do for my own hubby. We tend to only focus on creating these kinds of things for our kiddos but it is just as important to do them for our spouses! Thank you so much for linking this up to Inspiration Friday Grace!
ReplyDeleteVanessa