Mom and Dad's Excellent 40th Anniversary

Forty years ago today, my parents were sealed for time and all eternity in the Logan, Utah, temple of the Church.

To commemorate the big anniversary, their kids (let's be honest - Biz did all of the hard work) organized a surprise luncheon for them at one of our favorite family restaurants: the Joy Luck Chinese restaurant in West Bountiful.

Most of the Plowmans were present, minus grandson Luke, who was home sick with along his mom, Jessica, who was taking care of him. Our cousin Scott and his family also came up from Lehi to join us for the occasion.

My favorite picture of the afternoon was this shot, featuring a hilarious pose from three-year-old Jackson:
Yup, the kid is definitely a Plowman.

Also attending were "adopted" Plowman, Ryan; some of Mom's former college roommates; Elder John K. Carmack, emeritus member of the Seventy and Dad's associate with the Perpetual Education Fund, along with his wife, Shirley; Dad's tennis buddies; and good friends and neighbors from the Bountiful 18th Ward.

Toward the end of dinner, Mike represented the siblings and gave a short speech to honor the folks, using the acronym SLOF (Sacrifice, Love, Obedience, and Faith) to represent the important lessons they've taught us over the years.

When it was over, Ashlyne and Chantel had a little bit too much fun cleaning up, inhaling a little helium from the balloons:

We also gathered for a group shot:


Mom and Dad, you've been excellent to us. Party on, dudes!