Celebrating Our 50th Anniversary!

August 14 was a very significant day for us in 2021 ... our 50th Wedding Anniversary!! As the time of our 50th approached, we could have suggested a public celebration, an open house, or something similar. And though we would have loved to see many of our friends, we knew that the best celebration of all would be if we could be all together with our family, especially with our six children. It had been an extra lengthy time since we had all been together, which made us long for this even more. And God granted us our wishes ... we had a very memorable time together with 21 (out of 26 total) of our family the end of July!

We have loved receiving anniversary wishes from you, our friends and relatives, as well, and here in this post, we want to share some of the photos that capture our time together with family! Thank you for your love, prayers, and congratulations to us at this mark of 50 years!

We'll share a few of the many digital scrapbook pages that I (Cherry) have created, preserving memories of our time together in a beautiful rental home in Missouri. It was in a beautiful, wooded area, with its own private dock, paddleboat, kayaks, etc., and the large home slept all of us!

Here are a few of the pages capturing the great fun we all had ...

Our dear family designated one evening for our 50th Anniversary Celebration, and made it so very special ... complete with an amazing grilled steak meal, a bouquet of flowers, a beautiful and delicious cake, cards, gifts, and a sharing of memories! It was just the sweetest time with our precious family!

We also were blessed to have some family photos taken in the very beautiful setting!

We are thanking God for the gift of 50 years together, and for the gift of time with our dear family. We are cherishing the memories of our 50 years, which we also captured in a 30-minute slideshow that we prepared and viewed together as family. Such a fun time that was ... filled with laughter and so many memories! So many, many things to thank God for! And most of all we thank Him for His love, grace, and mercy through all the joys and also the trials of life over the past 50 years. 

Highlights from December

It is a highlight of our year when family comes home! And this year, we were so incredibly blessed to have ALL of our family home for Christmas! And when all are home now, that means 25 of us all together ... four daughters, two sons, four sons-in-law, a son's girlfriend, ten grandkids, a granddaughter's husband, and another granddaughter's boyfriend!

Twenty-five of our family + Gary's older single brother, and we were 26 around our table(s) for Family Christmas 2018 ...

We gathered at our home on Saturday, Dec. 29th, out-of-town family from Dallas, San Francisco, Brooklyn, and McCook NE, joining us and our two daughters & families who live nearby. 

It's such a treat to be together, and also that we can still all fit around our table(s) for Christmas Dinner. The six youngest grandkids eat at a table set up in our living room, but they join us for a family photo "around the table" in the dining room, and also while Gary/Dad/Grampa shares a short Christmas devotional before we enjoy our feast.

Our special Family Christmas Day together continued until 1 am the following morning ... gift-giving, games, a fun snack/appetizer spread in the evening, and more games ... so much joy and laughter, and many memories made. We are grateful to God for His blessings. Life is full of trials and hard times for all (including for our family), but also filled with such special gifts from God. We are filled with thanks for His gift of family.

- - - - - - -

December was a very full month for us, as it usually is for everyone. Preparing for having family home, and also continuing with all the activities of Cru on our various campuses can make for a very busy time. But also a very blessed time.

Gary was in Dallas (Nov. 27 - Dec. 2) for the Annual Leadership Gathering of all Team Leaders with Cru, both with the college campus ministry and the high school ministry. While there in Dallas, he also was able to spend time one evening with family ... our daughter Cristy & Mark, and their family. And also blessed to go to a special Christmas Concert at Dallas Baptist University where our granddaughter Crystal and also her boyfriend Braden, attend. Crystal and Braden are both pursuing music-related majors while there, and had a part in the very special concert.

Back at home again, our days were filled with Christmas prep, a fun visit from our daughter Carrie & Tyler and their two children who now live in McCook, and various special musical and band programs that our four grandkids who live nearby were in during the month of December. We also greatly enjoyed time with our CityGroup (small group with our church, Citylight Omaha) at a sweet Christmas Party, and also an invitation from a couple within the group to be their guests at an amazing Christmas performance of the Trans Siberian Orchestra at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs.

And also, our weeks were filled with Cru ... staff meetings, student meetings, and all the day-to-day administration of Cru Omaha. We finished off the year so grateful for all that God is doing in students' lives. And also so grateful for blessing us with having Jake on our team. It is a joy to serve together with him, and with our 25 volunteers who make Cru Omaha a reality.

Students gathered on our various Cru campuses for Christmas parties near the end of the month. Here are photos of two of those fun gatherings ...

Cru Christmas Party at Central High in Omaha

Cru Christmas Party with Fort Calhoun students

And now, we are into another calendar year of family, Cru, and more! Thanks for visiting Our Cru Communique blog, and we wish you a very Happy New Year!

Dad Siebert Turns 95

Dad Siebert reached a milestone on April 18, 2016 - 95 years old!!

It was a real treat to have Loren (one of Cherry's brothers) fly out from Portland for a 5-day visit around the time of Dad's birthday! His visit was a great encouragement to our father, and his visit also came at just the right time. Loren was a big help to us at the time of Dad's purchase of an electric wheelchair.  

Special days together with Loren, and as we celebrated Dad turning 95. Dad continues to settle in more and more in his Assisted Living apartment at Skyline Retirement Community in Omaha. It had been a rough past year for him as he adjusted to some health concerns, and we are thankful for a more settled and peaceful season now. 

Christmas Memories

Time goes by, and two weeks have passed since 24 family members filled our home for our Family Christmas on Friday, Dec. 26th. And it wasn't just any ordinary Christmas - it was a very memorable Christmas as our whole family was home! Traveling from San Francisco, New York City, and Dallas to join those who live nearby. We were so very blessed to have our six children, our four sons-in-law, and our ten grandkids home!! Plus, we were also very blessed to have Cherry's 93 year-old father with us, as well as Gary's brother. 

A very special gift from God to have our whole family home - an unexpected gift. We prepared for our time together for weeks, and then it happened. And it was wonderful. So grateful for photos which capture the memories and help us hold them for the weeks to come ...

Note: all digital scrapbook supplies are from Digital Scrapper.

Family Thanksgiving

One of our smallest Family Thanksgiving gatherings in many years, but a very fun evening together with some of our family who live nearby! We loved it - so thankful for family! And we all are looking forward to our whole family (22 of us!) being home for Christmas!!

Birthday Getaway Trip to KC

This was the year for significant birthdays for both Gary and me. And as we had some vacation days left to use this year, Gary asked me where I'd like to go for my birthday the end of September. Such a treat to go on a three-night little getaway at the time of my birthday! We loved our stay at a beautiful VRBO rental in Kansas City ... thank you, honey!

Click here to go to my Pursuing Heart blog to see four more digital scrapbook pages capturing the memories of our stay in this historic neighborhood of KC.

Siebert Visit (Part 2)

Continuing on with digital scrapbook pages - preserving memories of a five-day visit from our Siebert family ...

(Digital scrapbook supplies: First two pages - Page Template: Digital Scrapper Premier May 2014 Love, Mom by Carol Gillmour; Paper: Digital Scrapper Premier 2014 06 Outdoor Dad by Brandy Murry, Digital Scrapper Premier 2014 07 Liberty for All by Mommyish, Scrap Girls ABR_Creased'n'Crinkled. Last two pages - Page Template: Scrap Girls JSM_dD-pageGrids; Papers: Scrap Girls ABR_Creasedn'Crinkled, Digital Scrapper Premier 2014 08 WeekendatHome by Kate Hadfield.)

Siebert Visit (Part 1)

Preserving memories in digital scrapbook form of the wonderful visit we had with our Siebert family earlier this month ... thanking God for the very special five days He gave us together! The visit was especially significant as we could all spend time together with our 93 year-old father. We see him often, as he lives a short 20 minute drive from us - but this was the first time for him to see his three sons & their families since 2011, three years ago.

Click here to see more photos in Part 2 of our Siebert Family Visit ...

(Credits for digital scrapbooking supplies: Page Templates: Digital Scrapper Premier 2014 08; Paper: Digital Scrapper Premier 2014 07 LibertyforAll by Mommyish, Premier 2014 08 WeekendatHome by Kate Hadfield Designs.)

Five Day Visit from Our Siebert Family

We just spent five wonderful days together with our Siebert family. All three of Cherry's brothers traveled here - two from the west coast, and one from the east coast. Lee with his wife Cheryl, came from the Portland area. Steve with his wife Beverly, and twin daughters, Katie & Izzy, came from just north of New York City. And Loren came from Portland, where he has recently moved after the loss of his sweet wife, Margy, last summer.

Standing L to R: Gary, Loren, Cherry, Steve, Beverly, Cheryl, Lee; Seated: Our 93 year-old father.

It was a very memorable five days together, our first time to gather in three years. Though the brothers live on opposite coasts, we are blessed to live right in the middle, and also near our father ... so our home becomes the place for us to gather. 

Our father greatly appreciated having each of his four children together ... and we all missed our mother, who passed away nearly seven years ago.

L to R: Loren, Steve, our father Johnny Siebert, Cherry, Lee

It was also a very special time for cousins to be together - four of our six children, and Steve & Beverly's two daughters ... 

Standing L to R: Sara, Amy, Katie, Izzy, Carrie, Lance; Seated: their Grandpa.

And what fun for everyone to spend time with these six (of our ten) sweet grandkids!

L to R: Ali, Cole, Cruz, Jake, Levi, Eva

We were so very blessed by these five days together! Check back here in the days ahead, as we'll be sharing more photos in digital scrapbook form. So many memories to treasure, and so much to thank God for!

Family Celebration for Gary's 70th Bday

This was the big year for celebrating #70 for Gary!! We celebrated as a couple on his actual birthday, June 23. It was a very memorable day spent together at beautiful, restful Willow Lake - just perfect.

And then, over the weekend of July 12-13 we were blessed with a very special weekend when our kids and grandkids honored him and celebrated his bday. We were so touched by their love, and these many photos (on seven digital scrapbook pages) are our attempt to capture the memories.

(Credit for digital scrapbook supplies: Page Templates: Digital Scrapper July 2014 Premier; Paper: Digital Scrapper June 2013 Premier, We are Family by Dianne Rigdon / Digital Scrapper June 2014 Premier, Outdoor Dad by Scrap Girls.)

A Very Significant Day - Gary Turning 70!

We could hardly believe the day had come - but it did ... and now, Gary is 70! His wish was to spend it together, just the two of us, relaxing by a lake, one of our favorite things to do! Our family celebration will come later, in July - so this was the perfect way to celebrate on his actual birthday. These photos (in digital scrapbook form) capture some of our memories of our day together ... so very thankful for my sweet hubby!

Click here to go to my Pursuing Heart blog to view another scrapbook page of our special day at Willow Lake ...

(Credit for digital scrapbook supplies: Page Template: DS-tem08-12x12-2a; Paper: Digital Scrapper June 2014 Premier,  Scrap Girls ABR_CreasedNCrinkled.)

Trip to Texas - Abigail's Graduation Day

The big day was June 7! Our oldest grandchild is now a high school graduate! It was a very special day as we celebrated Abigail! She was blessed to graduate with the great privilege of being one of the top eight students in her class of 300+, also giving her the great honor of being a Birmingham Scholar. She was also given the honor and privilege of giving the opening prayer during the ceremonies. 

We are grateful for the blessing of being there in TX to be part of the celebrations, and we thank God for Abigail's accomplishments, and mostly, for her heart to follow and honor Him with her life. We love you, Abigail!

Trip to Texas - Abigail's Senior Recital & Reception

The time had come for our oldest granddaughter's graduation from high school (where have all the years gone?) ... and we were very privileged to make a trip to Texas to be there for the festivities! The first weekend held a number of very special events: a Spring Recital on Friday night where Abigail, Crystal, and Luke all played -  a special treat Cristy planned for Abigail on Saturday, an Afternoon Tea at a hotel in Dallas - and the next day on Sunday afternoon, Abigail's Senior Recital and Reception. So very blessed to be there to help celebrate!

(Credit for Digital Scrapbook supplies: First Page - Page Template: Scrap Girls - ABR_SSLOAlb-Series 5; Paper: SP Seasonal Sampler. Second Page - Page Template: Scrap Girls - ABR_SSLOAlb-Series 5; Paper: Sweet Shoppe - for auld lang syne. Third Page - Page Template: Scrap Girls - ABR_SSLOAlb_Series 5; Paper: Shabby Princess-Spring Breeze. Fourth Page - Page Template: Scrap Girls - ABR_SSLOAlb-Series 5; Paper: Sweet Shoppe - for auld lang syne. And credit for a few of the photos - our daughter, Cristy, in TX)