After a very filling dinner we started the festivities. First came the great-grand kids and younger grand kids, they were part of our mariachi band.
The boys played instruments while the girls danced around in their cute Mexican dresses. My sister and I played the part of Regis and Kelly hosts and my other cousins played the part of my grandparents. “Grandpa” had in a fake belly with a white tank top and white button down shirt on and “Grandma” was wearing her favorite Michigan sweat shirt. My Aunt Tammy had asked my grandparents a series of questions a few months back and jotted down their answers. We interviewed them as a couple and asked questions about how and where they met, having children, life as a married couple, how they lived and so on. We played some of their favorite songs from back in their day throughout the interview in the background. They really got a kick out of the whole thing. Aunt Yvette continued to introduce the following acts. “the rest of our Mariachi band has shown up and they have come all the way from Phoenix and Omaha….here are Juan and Paco!!!
Of course that was Chad and my brother Marc dressed up as men with their fat bellies hanging out and doing a dance to Mariachi Loco. It was so funny, people were falling out of their chairs laughing so hard, my grandfather had tears in his eyes. My grandmother used to clean the house to her man ELVIS! What would a party be without not one, not 2, but 3 different generations of Elvis’s. Two of my cousins and my dad played the part.
This time Grandma was falling out of her chair trying to reach out to the younger Elvis just like she would try to at his concerts. Another favorite of hers was Michael Jackson. She had also gone to his concerts. 
Well guess what? “Michelle” Jackson was played by my cousin Nicole. After all the belly laughs and tears of joy we had to get all sappy on everyone. Uncle Art read the words he wrote to his parents and then we played the Family Tree song. One by one all of us got up, went to the front “stage” area and sang out loud to my grandparents. The song has deep meaning and it was a perfect fit for our family. It was very emotional for all of us. My grandparents were so happy, excited, thankful and overjoyed that we put all this together for them. They have very special children (my parents & aunts and uncles) who spent months putting this all together. It was the perfect anniversary gift for them just to have the entire family in one place from all over the country.
Of course you can’t end the party without playing more poker. They had some pretty large pots going. Up to couple hundred dollars I think. Even the younger kids had their own table going. Except they played with fake money! Hey that’s how we roll!
