Annual Ornament Exchange

Loved my ornament this year! It's always a fun event with the girls from church.

G'Nosh!

Went to G'Nosh for a friend's 50th birthday celebration. I think we all did a fine job if I say so myself! We are all addicted now and plan to celebrate everyone's birthday there.

Crafting in Gunter, TX with friends

Had SOOO much fun in the little town northwest of where I live in Dallas. The Sister's Hideaway is a beautiful retreat for scrappers, crafters, anyone. Meals are provided and are wonderful of course. I consider it wonderful when someone else makes it for me. I got a lot of projects started and some done. We watched videos all night long and now Modern Family is my new favorite sit com. Can't wait to come back for some stampin' and scrappin'!
www.thesistershideaway.com

School's Out for the Summer!

One of the rooms I work in went out to eat the last day of school (our work day). We all deserved it. Although, the teacher (Irene) and I were back on Saturday finishing some paperwork and closing up our work area. Yay summer!

Girl's Weekend in Granbury!

It was that time again! Some women at church and I went to Granbury for some shopping and girly fun on Friday and Saturday. I always have a great time. We stayed at Manor of Time B&B. I recommend it.



Manor of Time B&B



How cute is this? What a neat way to welcome us.



St. Louis

Mark went to St. Louis for work so I tagged along. We went to a Cardinals game while there. The trip was a blast. Grandma and Grandpa watched the kiddos at our house while we were away. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!

Weekend Wedding

Mark and I attended a wedding this past Saturday for a co-worker of mine. She was a beautiful bride and her new husband is just as fabulous. We had a great time at the reception. It's been a few years since attending a wedding of a twenty-something bride so there were a few new reception ideas that I thought were kind of neat. The first was a martini potato bar. You served yourself your choice of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes or purple mashed potatoes and then there was a huge choice of toppings. People were having fun creating their "martinis." Very interesting!

The other treat was a "candy bar" which I had heard of before. The bride and groom supply a monogrammed bag and you fill it with candy treats as you leave the reception. Great idea!

Mother's Day Tea

Mom, me, and Nina



Pretty antique hat

We had our 5th Annual Mother's Day Tea at church last Saturday, the 9th. It's always a lot of work for everyone in our women's circle, but we all enjoy it in the end. We have over 100 women attend each year and have a different theme. This year it was "hats" and we had a great speaker, Pat Crenshaw, who was hilarious! She presented a one-woman show of hat tricks and melodies. I think everyone enjoyed her performance.

I host a table each year and always have two very special guests attend with me: my mother and Nina, my dear friend. Here's a picture of a place setting at my table. I change it each year 'cause I don't want the ladies to get bored sitting at my table!

"24-hour" Girl's Weekend

Every year, friends of mine in my Bible study at church get together for a girl's weekend at a bed and breakfast somewhere in north Texas. It's actually only about 24 hours and not for the weekend, but who cares! We visited a dear friend of ours who moved last year to Waco with her family. We sure miss her and wanted to spend some time with her and with each other. This year we stayed at a wonderful B&B called The Cotton Palace. If you're looking for a place to stay in Waco, this is it! Although there were a few other guests at the house, we still made ourselves at home downstairs and stayed up late, ate chocolate and drank (a little) wine. Oh, and we talked A LOT. Can't wait 'til next year, girls!

One of our hosts was Dutch. He was such a delightful host and served us a delicious breakfast on Saturday morning. He didn't take credit for the meal. His daughter cooked it. We all liked it, as you can see below:

School Auction Evening by the Lake

Mark and me at the Filter Building


Larry and Diane

We recently went to a fundraiser auction for Peder's school. It was at a beautiful new location off of White Rock Lake (The Filter Building). It was a nice evening spent with other parents and our dear friends (and Peder and Caroline's godparents!), Larry and Diane. Thanks for joining us again guys! We bid on (and won) a few items in the silent auction (gift cards, etc.), but I am always so impressed by how high in price some things went for, especially the class gifts. Parents and grandparents were digging deep in their pockets for personalized class quilts, game chests (Peder's class), custom-made pottery and glassware that the kids had been involved in creating. It was especially fun seeing friendly bidding wars ensue between two sets of parents.

One event that was up for bid was an evening and dinner with a group of your friends, hosted by a local country/Christian musician at her and her husband's ranch. Bidding was going on and on and finally the singer's husband stood up and announced that they would extend it to be an overnight event hosted by them. It was so fun seeing such enthusiasm. I think the bidding stopped just under $2000. (!)

Gerber Daisies

It was my birthday on the 5th and I turned 38! I love Gerber daisies and these were given to me by one of the sweet teachers I work with (thanks Megan!) and her special ed. preschool class. I'm not a photographer but I'd like to learn more about how to take pictures, so here are my attempts at showing how pretty they were. They also gave me a card and sang Happy Birthday to me (well, some of them are nonverbal but they were there trying). The other class I work with (3 and 4 year olds) gave me a huge bag of chocolate kisses and M&Ms. Yum!

Mark made dinner for me and the family. We haven't gone out for dinner yet, but that's the plan.

Making LEFSE!

I was fortunate enough to get invited to make lefse this afternoon with a good friend of mine, Maren, and her sister. It was my first time making it with a real lefse griddle. It took about 3 hours I think but it was all fun. I learned a lot from Maren's father's wife, Betty. She is a pro and has been making lefse for many years.

Lefse is a traditional Norwegian snack and I LOVE it. Mark knows not to bother eating it at home since he doesn't appreciate it the way I do. You should never waste good lefse. My parents have honed their skills and make excellent lefse. I love it when they bring me fresh lefse when they visit. Can you tell that I love lefse????

I got to bring some home with me. It's already gone. :-)