Warm House, Great Friends

:::tap, tap, tap::: Anybody still there? I know I've neglected this blog for over a month. I may be speaking only to myself now. I'm going to try to update and keep it updated. A lot has happened in the last month.

One of the most FUN things that happened was our Housewarming! Our wonderful friend, Ashley....

and her sweet husband, Josh...

asked if they could throw us a housewarming party! How could we say no? We had SUCH a wonderful time and were blown away by the terrific party Ashley and Josh put together for us.

Ashley had some great special touches...she had come here to our blog and downloaded a bunch of pictures of us building the house and from our first few months in the house. She mounted these on little standing "frames" and put them all around. She also gave me the great cookbook stand in the back holding the housewarming party invitation. Ashley has a beautiful cookbook stand in her house and I always comment on it.

Because Ashley is a fellow scrapbooker (and that is actually how we met some 5? 6? years ago), she made this great scrapbook page for all the guests to sign and leave notes of good wishes and house blessings. When the party was over, she popped it into a frame. Steve couldn't wait to hang it up and it is in a spot where everyone can see it when they come into our home.

She also cross stitched this bread basket cloth and a tea towel with our name and the year of our marriage. All this in addition to the food. OH, the food! My, oh, my! Delicious beyond all delicious-ness!

There was a yummy pasta salad, an antipasto tray, hummus and artichoke dip for the bruschetta.

And tulips! She bought my favorite flower to decorate the tables! Lovely white tulips that she mixed with sliced lemons in the vases for the neatest looking arrangements! How clever!

My mother-in-law made chicken salad sandwiches and at the last minute decided to just "whip up" a small batch of jambalaya. LOL! It was delicious, though, and it is for sure that between Faye and Ashley, NO ONE left hungry! If they did, it was their own fault!

I felt helpless, so I asked Ashley if I could make something - dessert perhaps. She acquiesced. I think to hush me up. So I made some mini cream puffs, little brownie cups, and a lemon blueberry trifle. Joy and Jenna are discussing whether the cream puffs or the brownie bites are healthier. Joy picked the brownies since they had fruit on top. A good choice, Joy!

Although the lemon berry trifle was pretty good, too! Not that the cream puffs had to be thrown out or anything, mind you.

Here's Paige and Morgan. The FRIENDS were just as wonderful as the food at my party!



And family is pretty wonderful, too. Here's Joshua and his adorable girlfriend, Isabelle.

And not only did we have great food and great company, we even got PRESENTS! That was just the cherry on top. But the best gift was just gathering together with all our friends and relatives and neighbors. Love is always the best gift of all!

Thank you, Ashley, for showing your love for us in such a wonderful way! You and Josh are such a blessing to us and we are so grateful for your friendship! Thanks for the party!

(And they even cleaned up afterwards!)