Fifty-five Years of Blessing

   We have tried to take a family picture about every five years. The last one that was taken five years ago was for our fiftieth anniversary. We added some people since then, so it was time to document our tribe again this year. Here's where we started fifty-five years ago with a brand-new family of two.

Two years later there were four of us.

Daryl (1968) Dale (1969)

And then the two boys had a sister.

Cheryl (1971)

A third son joined the family and then we were six. 

Steve (1975)

The boys kept coming. Fifteen years after we began our family of eight was complete.

Gene (1980) Gerald (1983)

Our numbers didn't increase again until our twenty-fifth anniversary when a son-in-law joined the family. Tragically, we lost one of the sons (Steve, back row, left) in an accident about a year and a half later. Cheryl married Richard Miller in 1991.

The family grew as more in-laws and grandchildren were added.

Daryl married Velma in 1998; Dale married Tawnya in 1993.

And grew . . . 

and grew some more.

Then the youngest was married and we kept on growing. By our fiftieth anniversary a grandson was married. Gene married Amy in 2006; Gerald married Kelly in 2011.

Left to right--Dale and Tawnya with 9 adopted children; Leroy & Romaine; Daryl and Velma; Cheryl and Richard with 3 children and a daughter-in-law; Gerald and Kelly; Gene and Amy with one son, Grayson.

Five years later, we are blessed an additional granddaughter (seated left) and great-grandchildren (sitting on the grass to the left) have begun a new generation. Unfortunately, two grandsons, a wife and third great-grandchild are missing from the photo. In fifty-five years we have gone from two to thirty-one. We are expecting the number to increase next year.

Left to right--Gerald and Kelly with daughter Abigail, Cheryl and Richard with 3 children and 2 grandchildren; Dale and Tawnya with 7 of their adopted children; Daryl & Velma; Gene, Amy, and Grayson.

  The way was not always easy, but we have been abundantly blessed through these fifty-five years. "The Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations."