Warm Friends, Hot Cider, and Cookie Decorating

December 18, 2015 - A few photos from what was officially a "Cookie Decorating Party."

Luminaries - southwestern decorations you rarely see in the Midwest

Up on the housetop...

Is that a star from the East?

Or Josiah holding a flashlight?

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

...but the fire is so delightful.

It was impossible to feel cold with hot cider, warm friends, a roaring fire, and heated card games of "Bluff" and "Nertz."

Isaiah 40:3

We all sang some carols around the piano.

Because the best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing aloud for all to hear.

Decorated cookies

The extent of my decorating consisted of spreading the icing like butter on the cookie and immediately eating it. #minimalistdesign

Operator!

"10 circles in a picture" (behind)

"chestnuts roasting over an open fire"

"what light through yonder window breaks" 

- turned into 'something' and "about a thousand toothpicks"

As the fire was slowly dying

my dears were still goodbying...

...and planking...

...and sharing stories and 'random facts.'

Thanks for having us all over!

Sam & Leah's Wedding - Part II

Continued from the first post...

Well, Mr. And Mrs. Feller are now wed, so it's time to get the reception underway!

The decorations were fantastic, though I failed in large regard to capture the general atmosphere with my camera, but here are a few snapshots that should help clue you into the "feel."  

A tall man's "disaster waiting to happen."

It was probably a good thing that I didn't use hairspray!

Place me like a seal over your heart...

The bride and groom's glasses

...like a seal on your arm...

...for love is as strong as death...

...its jealousy unyielding as the grave...

 ...It burns like blazing fire...

It was a chilly fall day, so I spent most of the evening talking with friends around the campfire.

...like a mighty flame.

...Many waters cannot quench love...

...Nor will rivers overflow it.

- Song of Solomon 8:6-7a

Well, I apologize for taking a little detour through the Song of Solomon

- especially since the accompanying photos may not have been perfect "fits" -

but it came to mind with all of these photos of candles, flames, lanterns and campfires.

Friends talking around the campfire

Yay!  Another Solomon reference...

"Go, eat your bread with joy, 

And drink your wine* with a merry heart;"

-Eccl 9: 7

*Thumbs up for being a reformed baptist who understands that this isn't a reference to an non-alcoholic beverage. ;)

And so the long walk together begins!

“What marriage is for: 

It is a way for two spiritual friends to help each other on their journey 

to become the persons God designed them to be.” 

- Timothy Keller

"The Meaning of Marriage"

The pie auction

and 

cutting the cake:

Well, Leah "struck" first...

...but revenge is sweet - especially when it comes to cake!