Last month we had a pretty grand opportunity as we learned how to celebrate a 60th anniversary in style…on an Alaskan cruise. You see, these two beauties (Dave’s parents) have been married for 60 years.

Yes, SIXTY. They always “win” at weddings when they let people who have been married stick around on the “slow dance” dance floor. And they both still have that in-love twinkle in their eyes.

Oh it sure hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies. They have worked through all kinds of things over the years. But it is pretty grand to watch them nurture their marriage through all the years I have known them. To have such an amazing example of putting each other first and learning and growing together.

An Alaskan Cruise to Celebrate

These guys are planners I tell you. They know how to get things done. So for almost a year they have been planning the grand celebration with all their adult kids: an Alaskan cruise.

We have been anticipating the day (only one of us had ever traveled to Alaska and it wasn’t me and Dave!) And the day finally arrived last month.

We all converged in Seattle and boarded that gigantic ship behind us.

Getting ready to board the cruise

(Can you tell we were pretty excited about that??)

We sailed out into the big, blue yonder to experience much of the beauty Alaska has to offer. I say “much” of the beauty because we only had four stops and I know Alaska is chock-full of gorgeousness. But I’ll tell you, a cruise is such a good way to get to experience so much of it.

Not only did we get to bask in that Alaskan beauty, we got to bask in the beauty of relationships. And we had the luxury of time together to build them stronger.

And over and over again I just felt such a deep sense of wonder that I get to be related to this crew.

Through all those years of marriage, Dave’s parents have nurtured and loved their NINE children. Here they are with all but one of them (we MISSED Christy and James so much who were in Africa serving as mission presidents) as we sailed through breathtaking Glacier Bay National Park.

Dave and his siblings and parents standing on the cruise deck

(Is it me or is one of those people not like the others? Ha! Not sure where Dave got that height.)

And here they are with spouses joining in.

Dave's whole family standing on the cruise deck

Oh I love them!

At Sea on the Ship

Ok, so I have so much to say about the stops we made on the cruise on The Best Things to Do on an Alaskan Cruise post. But right here and now I’m going to start on this post with just some of the things actually on the boat. And there was a lot happening on the boat I tell you.

The Views

They were so beautiful.

the view from an Alaskan cruise

…And also windy, yow!

The Food

I have to say, Princess Cruises to a pretty great job with food. Especially when you think about how they’re feeding the masses.

We had dinner together every night at two different tables, different configurations of people at each each night.

We had the best waiter who catered to our every need, love him!:

Formal Night

Actually there were two of these, and we didn’t get overly dolled up, but fun to get a little more dressy.

The whole family on formal night

60th Anniversary Celebration

We found a spot to do an anniversary celebration one afternoon while we were at sea.

We had grand ideas with making a giant “60” on some wall with pictures of them through the years, but that was a bust. (Turns out there aren’t many gathering places with a big wall, which shouldn’t really be that surprising I guess.) Instead we just passed around the pictures and basked in the memories.

A fun game to celebrate an anniversary

Someone gave Dave and I the idea to have everyone write one-word memories of something in those 60 years on slips of paper. It could be a neighbor from growing up, or a trip they went on, or an inside joke they remember. Everyone put the papers in a bucket and we did a type of “Taboo” where you can say all the things to describe the word but you can’t say the actual word while everyone guesses.

I loved how it brought up so many memories and engaged everyone in talking about them. Loved the stories that came out and the funny and also emotional things shared surrounding those memories.

When we were done with the game everyone went around and said one thing they admire most about those two people. It was pretty tender and beautiful to hear.

Anniversary T-Shirts

We also made anniversary t-shirts for Nana and Papa and presented them at dinner one night:

Dave's parents holding up their 60th wedding anniversary t-shirts

Oh I just love these two!

An 80th Birthday Celebration

Not only was it Nana and Papa’s 60th wedding anniversary, it was also Dave’s mom’s 80th birthday celebration.

We took an afternoon to honor her, once again, with lots of pictures of her growing up (although I sadly don’t have pictures of that).

Dave's parents smiling

Dave’s mom has worked really hard to write up her life history and Dave’s sister presented her (and each of us) with a printed copy:

Dave's mom with her life history made into a book

Sure love this lady.

Dave and his mom with arms around each other

Cruise Entertainment

Welp, aside from the anniversary and birthday celebrations, we went to one “show” I think.

We were much more excited about doing our own thing. Which included some games on a few different occasions.

Dave brought our “Family Conversation Cards” box (my favorite) and it was so fun to have everyone ask each other questions from that thing.

the family sitting around the table playing games

Ok, that picture doesn’t actually look that fun, let’s get some video outtakes from when everyone was cracking up:

There we go.

There were endless swirl cones and a practical joke (that no one really got but it was fun for those who “played” it:):

More games:

That last one was “Quixx,” another favorite.

Family history “Jeopardy” one night:

Family jeopardy game

One-on-One Time

Dave and I got to have some special “one-on-one” time with Nana and Papa:

Oh, that week was just filled right up with Pothier goodness.

Lucy and Sisters back at home

Where was Lucy during all this you might ask? Because truly, it’s tricky to leave that girl.

She had two sister heroes come stay with her. Grace for the first half and Elle for the last. And man-oh-man I cannot tell you how much that meant to me and Dave. More pics of that when I get them from the girls, but for now I’ll just leave you with the good news that we had cell service most of the time. This is how my phone looked:

Oh yeah…we got to talk I tell you.

And it was awesome.

So grateful these two fell in love all those years ago.

Dave's parents celebrating their 60th anniversary

…and for the grand legacy they are creating with how they chose to live their lives.

And so grateful for ALL THIS BEAUTY!

So much more about our stops and what we did there on the following post.

Some Other Posts With Dave’s Family

So many more posts about this family I get to be related to…we had a big celebration for their 50th as well but I cannot find it. I’ll come back and add it when I do.

Happy Tuesday!

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2 Comments

  1. This is so special!! Love that you got to do that together!!

    I have two questions as I’m actively planning Alaska for next summer…would this ship (which was it?) be good for kids? Preteen/teenagers.

    2. Are the games and gatherings in a suite? Do you recommend that? Did you do a balcony room and would you say it’s worth the upgrade?

    1. Hi Jen! It was the Princess Discovery I believe. It would be great for preteen/teenagers but just know probably the huge majority of people who do an Alaskan cruise are in the “older” category. I didn’t see even one teenager. But maybe they’d stay with the family group more that way!

      It was tricky to find game/gathering spots. We felt lucky to find quiet spots late at night in the buffet dining area and also between meals in the fancy dining area.

      We did do a balcony room and it was lovely to see the scenery, but it was cold out there and we also wanted to gather with the rest of the family during most of the scenery so take that into consideration according to your group.

      Good luck and I’m so excited for you to go!!
      XOXO

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