HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY SANDRA AND MERLE!

I can't take credit for this great display of pictures.  Thanks to Mandy and Mareena for sharing this special card that they put together for their mom and dad.  Ten year old Megan thought her grandma looked so young on her wedding picture.  Mareena told her that she was 18! 

We didn't attend this wedding in Lethbridge on November 24th, 1970.  In fact the only ones who did attend were Merle's brother Jimmy and his wife Ethel, who were the witnesses.  Merle had said that if there were more than two people there, he wouldn't be!!  Sadly, both Jimmy and Ethel have since passed away and are not here to celebrate with them today.  I'm not sure about the pastor.  Nevertheless, the job was well done without the rest of us and the knot is still tied forty years later.  Congratulations!!

Fifteen years ago Merle and Sandra celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary.  We weren't there for that event either, but that was due to very icy roads that kept us home.  Here's the picture that was taken that day.

Sandra and Merle raised a family of three, a son and two daughters.  Jason, Marion, Blaine and Katie live on the farm just a few miles west of Sandra and Merle's.  In fact, that's the place where Merle and Sandra lived for the first years of their marriage and where Jason spent his early years.  Mareena, Gavin, Megan, Rylan and Nola live in Lacombe, Alberta.  They are right across the street from Mandy, Rick, Drew and Ty.  That works great as Grandma and Grandpa can visit both families in one trip.  Here's their most recent family picture taken in Swift Current at Jason and Marion's wedding.  

Katie has since joined the family so here's a picture of this little sweetie.  

I'm not sure how the Sanford's are celebrating today but I know that Sandra will be helping her group prepare the Senior dinner in Frontier at noon today. Maybe they'll allow Merle to eat with them!! Every Wednesday during fall and winter months, community groups take turns preparing meals for seniors aged 70 and over at the Senior Citizens Centre in town.  They charge $6 a plate now (and make a profit!), up from the $5 they started with.  The menu today will feature pork chops with gravy, baked in the oven so they are very tender.  Wish we could be there, but this November weather isn't great for travelling.

I promised Sandra I would put the story behind the gift we bought them in Norway on my blog today so here goes.  Sandra had said that she would like a pewter salad serving set so I looked around in shops in Kristiansund but didn't find any there.  When we were in the Oslo airport I found a Kongetin set there, bought it and stuck it in my carry on bag.  As we went through security in London airport, I was called aside and asked if they could look in my bag that had just gone through the x-ray machine.  I took the box out to show the customs official and was told that it was not allowed in my carry on luggage!  Apparently the salad fork with three small prongs was considered a potential weapon!  I wasn't about to leave this special gift behind.  Fortunately, there was time to take the box to the post office in the airport and mail it to myself in Canada!  It arrived safely and I hope it made it safely to Frontier too.

Sandra and Merle have cattle as well as grain on their farm.  She has often come alone to visit us as Merle is busy putting up hay, moving cattle, or staying home to feed cattle.  Holidays are few for cattlemen.  Several years ago when Sandra was here, we went to visit Aunt Signe in North Dakota.  Aunt Signe asked Sandra "Your husband, he's still living?" 

Our family has been blessed with couples reaching their fortieth anniversary.  Mom and Dad celebrated theirs on July 23, 1981.  Here's a picture of them along with special guests - Selma Erickson, Oscar and Ruth Geving, Helma and Harry ( Jimmy) Parkins and Gary Erickson.

And now all four of us Erickson "kids" have reached this milestone too.  None of us opted for the traditional "come and go tea" so I can't show you such pictures of us.  Our fortieth was on July 23, 2006, Mervin and Jan's on August 5, 2007 and Alan and Judy's on March 9, 2008.  We are reminded how blessed we have been when we think of Aunt Selma in the above picture.  She was married to Dad's only brother Almer, who died at the age of 45.  They had only fifteen years together and she remained a widow until her passing at the age of 90.

Our grandparents reached even higher milestones.  Grandma and Grandpa Erickson reached their 55th anniversary, Grandma and Grandpa Haaland, their 65th.  There's an interesting story about our Aunt Marie (Haaland) who at age 18 married George Moen, who was 38 years old.  A sister-in-law warned Marie that she should be prepared to be a widow for many years, marrying someone twenty years older.  As it turned out, that sister-in-law was a widow three times, outliving three husbands!  And Aunt Marie and Uncle George?  They celebrated over fifty years together until his death at the age of 95!  Our times are in God's hands and we can only say in the words of a favourite hymn, "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!"