Birthday Week-End

The culmination of my birthday week was a lovely Saturday spent at Pamela's house, where she had invited several ladies for brunch and uplifting conversation and time together.

The ladies humored my need for a photograph.  :)

Back to life,
Christine

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Afternoon with the Girls

My friend Gail and I had been trying to get together for some time, and things finally worked out to spend an afternoon together last week.  What a great way to start off the new year, visiting a dear sister in Christ and having some very special Girl Time!

Gail's daughter Diana set the table so beautifully, with teacups...

A cute honey pot...

Even a water pitcher to quench our thirst after lunch.

Diana showed me the "Tea for One" set she made:

She told me that her mom made the sugar and creamer set:

And she showed me her special tea plates:

Our luncheon was delicious, with tuna melt sandwiches:

And orange-poppy seed muffins, which Diana created from a recipe she modified.

Gail and I spent a wonderful afternoon sharing conversation, thoughts, opinions, feelings, laughter...  Later, her older daughter Kelle made chicken Parmesan for dinner, and I got to stay to partake of that meal, as well!  I was so blessed to be able to spend time with these beautiful, Godly ladies.

 Luncheon brought to us by Diana!

Back to life,
Christine

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A Big, Fun, Day!

I wanted to share some images from a Sunday a few weeks ago.  Our church family is such a blessing, and it's so much fun to get together as a giant group.  There's always fun, conversation, music, games, laughter.  And my friends don't mind that I run around with my camera all day shooting everything and everyone.  :)

My recent Sunday in pictures.

What a great spring day that was!!  I'm grinning that I shared with just images, and no words.  I always have to tell the story, but I just don't have time.  I hope you figured out that we had a great time!  ;)


Back to life,
Christine

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Risen! Alleluia!

Oh, what an incredible thought--to know my sins are washed away!  We attended church service this morning with this joyful knowledge, which permeated our entire day.

Sweet thoughts began a few days earlier when I started preparing for the meal we would share with family, and the dessert that would follow.  Yummy cake cools on the rack, waiting to be frosted and layered.

This afternoon, my darling Grillmaster exceeded all expectations by expertly grilling every kind of meat that family members brought to our gathering.  Our sister-in-law Charlotte helped him out a bit--or is it that Fernando allowed her to turn some of the meat on his precious grill?  *grin*

Our family tends to bring a lot of food to its gatherings.  Just look at all that chicken--and there were also T-bone steaks and country ribs!!

Dinner was superb, and it was great to have the family gathered together.  We chatted, ate, cleaned up, chatted some more, enjoyed the halfway-decent weather, and...

...sometimes an unscheduled nap occurred.  Hey, it's nice that my dad is comfortable in my home!  If that were me, I'd never have heard the end of it!  :)

My mom and I started a Scrabble game, and I opened with a seven-letter word.  Score!  The game then went downhill, though we broke the required moron-level of 600 points combined, which made us feel better.

As we waved good-bye to my parents, the Lord blessed us with a beautiful sunset to end His day.  Despite the suburban feel at eye level, I need only to lift my eyes up a little higher to see His splendor across the sky.

Christ the Lord is ris'n today, Alleluia!

Sons of men and angels say:  Alleluia!

Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!

Sing ye heav'ns, and earth reply:  Alleluia!

Back to life,
Christine

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FFG -- My Farm Girl Day

My dear friend Lori hosts Friday Farm Girls at Heart every week;

please click on her button to visit her blog

and to find out how you can participate!

I'm so tired this morning.  And actually, I can't even say it's morning any more; It's 12:17pm as I start to type this post!  I was up several times in the night with an upset stomach, though I'm feeling mostly better.  I have a pot of homemade chicken soup on the stove warming right this very minute.

Cross It Off the List!  My Farm Girl heart is happy to be back home after a morning of running errands--which is a great Farm Girl thing to do!  The most important errand ended up being the easiest--getting Joseph's handicapped state ID card.  Usually, our driver services facility is crowded and agonizingly slow--I completed two New York Times Sunday crosswords while I waited one time I was there.  But today, Joseph and I walked in, showed our paperwork, and were able to walk right up to a representative at the counter!  And she was so nice--sometimes they're not.  :)

There was no charge for the ID, since it's for a handicapped person, so we went right to the picture-taking area, and the guy behind the counter there was very nice!  He told us that Joseph would be able to ride public transportation for free (not that he would ever need to do that, but still...), and get into museums and such for free or at reduced prices.  The man was so friendly, it just made my day.


Afternoon of rest.  After completing the rest of the errands, I'm home, and happy to be here.  My tummy is getting a little upset again, so I might grab some blouses to alter and curl up on the couch.  It's so bright and sunny after the snowfall last night, and perfect curling-up weather.  I'm getting the boys to do laundry this afternoon.  :)

Fun with Friends.  Tonight, we'll be going out to Lori's for Game Night.  My Farm Girl heart loves the fellowship of other believers!


Well, since I started this post, I've been interrupted by hubby coming home for lunch--a good interruption--and lunchtime.  Now it's back to the "Farm Girl Day" plan!

I hope you're enjoying a perfect Farm Girl Day today!

Back to life,
Christine

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captured by Christine Anne

Night of Laughter

Looking back on past blog posts, it seems I use the phrase "my dear friend ___..." quite a bit!  I'll try to refrain from that in this post.

My wonderful friend Lori (how's that?) and her family have been hosting Friday Game Night throughout this autumn, and we've been happy to attend every one of them.  This past week was extra special since her house was packed with people--laughing, smiling, cheerful people ready to play and have fun together.  :)

I started the evening with a headache (actually, it had lasted the entire day), but by evening's end I was headache-free, albeit exhausted and ready to fall into bed (which I did upon returning home!).  I laughed so hard, pretty much all night long.  I must've lost two pounds from all the calories expended.  :D

Anyway, I'm glad I brought my camera with me, since there were so many interesting game faces displayed.  The photos above show those serious chess-player faces, absorbed in the moves and the strategies of the game.  But behind them some hilarity came to light...

I knew when these ladies showed up, that I'd be laughing a lot.  A minute or so after taking the above shot, I found myself sitting in the dining room, an unwitting player in the game of Curses.

Now, don't worry--though it's not a specifically Christian game, we weren't dancing around a cauldron or anything.  I won't explain in detail; I'll just state that you had to act out what was printed on the "curse" cards that other players gave you.  If you forgot to act something out, you "broke" the curse; once you broke three curses, you were out of the game.

photo courtesy Stephen Martin (I think)

Though it's hard to capture the "acting out" part of the game, hopefully the next several photos will help you understand the silliness involved!

 Bryan was required to bite his tongue while talking,

and at the same time play "air guitar."

Bryan could handle it for only so long...he broke in the end (giggle)...

Enjoy (most of) the rest of the evening's photos--I'm posting some special ones on my photography blog.  Check them out there!

Had to post one photo of Lori's Christmas tree.  Lovely!!

Back to life,
Christine

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captured by Christine Anne