Neighbourhood BBQ

We were privileged to host the 3rd annual Neighbourhood BBQ this past weekend.

I think we can say it was an unqualified success. 65 people came (19 of them were children!) representing 22 families.

We've lived in this neighbourhood for 37 years now and although we've become good friends with our immediate neighbours, we've not gotten to know those further afield.

Thank you, Marg and Marilyn, for initiating the idea of gathering all the neighbours for a summer BBQ and to Linda and Jim who have hosted a party for us all at Christmas. It's because of these folks that we have become friends with the wider neighbourhood and why we had such a turnout this year.

As you can see the kids had a ball and the adults found lots to talk about.

The weather was mostly good with a
bit of rain at dusk which didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirits. We just moved the party under a canopy and enjoyed dessert by candlelight.

Thank you to everyone who came.

We loved having you.

Baby Shower

It’s been a practice among our friends to celebrate the events in our children’s lives.

There’s a bridal shower when any of our children marry and now when the grandchildren are born, we hold a shower for the first child of each family.

Last week it was our youngest son’s first child that we celebrated. Julia was born at the beginning of May, 5 weeks early so we waited a month before celebrating her birth.

Jan hosted the shower and had the table decorated so beautifully.

Julia was the centre of attention and was passed around as everyone wanted to hold her.

This little girl will be well dressed!

We were so happy to have Adele’s mom attend. She was visiting from Peace River.

Before the shower was all cleaned up Betti, Lorraine, Jan and Pat were already planning a bridal shower for another friend’s son’s fiance’. I feel so blessed to have such a supportive and loving group of friends.

Wasn't that a party - day 3

On our last day, Ellen and I took advantage of the sunshine and hopped into my VW and drove out to join the girls at Minter Gardens.

We met at the Trillium Restaurant where we enjoyed their buffet brunch.

We then headed off to walk through the gardens which were spectacular as always.

It was a gorgeous afternoon and we leisurely strolled through the beautiful gardens and took time to chat with each other.

We stopped to do an errand and then sat on our patio until it was time to drive up the hill to Julie's where she'd rented the clubhouse. She'd set up her table with every attention to detail. It was lovely - all lace and pretty dishes and there was a rose at each place setting.

It was fitting that our last meal together should be a Mennonite one. Julie treated us to her wonderful schnetki (recipe on the MGCC blog), zwiebach, borscht and flapper pie.
Absolutely delicious!

After dinner Kathy and Marg - our intrepid and creative social coordinators, presented us all with kind words and a small gift.

I think these are the girls that deserve the accolades as they did an incredible job of organizing our first ever MGCC "summit".

Our time together ended the way it began with an "Aufwiedersehn Gedicht"

(farewell speech) from our two Mennonite Frauen (ladies).

Our time together ended all too quickly and we hugged and promised to meet again soon.

Thanks so much to Betty , Charlotte and Ellen who traveled here so we could all be together;

to Kathy and Marg for all the hard work they put into planning this;

to each girl who hosted us and

to Lovella for putting her dream into reality and including all of us in it.

Wasn't that a party - day 2

The next day we all met at Judy's for brunch. It was a special day for all of us and the excitement level was high. Judy's table reflected her personality and lovely country home. We were made very welcome!

Judy made her Ham and Egg cups (recipe is on the MGCC blog)

And we all raised a cheer to the MGCC and to Judy for the fabulous cinnamon buns!

After a very fun and photo filled experience at Judy's, we headed out to Harrison Lake where Harv was waiting for us.

We'd been worried that the weather wouldn't allow for a cruise on the Lake but the sun came out and it warmed right up.

So we climbed aboard and set out.

We stopped at a beach for the obligatory photo op!

Then it was back to our place for BBQ pork tenderloin

and those intriguing baby zucchini we'd bought the day before which turned out to be very good.

Kathy and Marg headed off to Marg's place to set up dessert and their evening event so the rest of us sat out on the patio and relaxed for a bit.

Harv called us to the back yard for yet another photo by our old Maple tree.

The it was off to Marg's for her Hazelnut Roll

and a spa evening complete with a 10 minute chair massage for each of us.

We all went home soooo relaxed.

Thanks Marg and Kathy!

So ended the second day!

Wasn't that a party!!

After three days of Partying with the gals from http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/

it's time to chronicle some of our fun.

Many of you will have already seen pictures on the MGCC blog but I can't help but post a few pictures taken from my perspective.
We met on Tuesday at the Abbotsford Airport to meet the Manitoba girls.

Kathy and Marg - our social committee were there in true form to wel come them and had us (and the rest of the crowd there) laughing out loud with their Menno antics.

Then it was off to Lovella's where she had her famous "High Tea" waiting for us.

It's the first time all 10 of us who contribute to the blog were together and it was wonderful to finally visit with Betty and Charlotte (from Manitoba) and Ellen (from Seattle) in person.

Lovella had business cards ready for us to take with us.

Two local businesses that have generously donated to our MCC project were next on our itinerary.
Neufeld Farms are well known in the Fraser Valley for their chicken products both fresh and frozen.

We were warmly welcomed and browsed through their lovely store.

The berries in their produce section were a feast for the eyes. (and to the tastebuds)

Next it was off to Lepp Farm Market on the Mission Highway.

We lined up with Charlotte Lepp for one of many group photos taken over the course of the 3 days.

Charlotte Lepp graciously gave us a wonderful tour of their market, describing all the locally grown produce and locally made food products so well that many of us filled our baskets (also bought at the market) with tempting products to try at home.

I bought Baby Zucchini with the blossoms attached
to serve at dinner the next evening.

It was still raining so hard that we decided to head to Anneliese's a little early and enjoyed a hot appetizer and coffee while she did the finishing touches to supper for all of us.

Her beautifully set table reflected her attention to detail and her sweet spirit made us feel so special.

Dinner was a lovely chicken vegetable casserole, coleslaw and not one but 2 delicious desserts.

Spanish Flan and Bread Pudding with Orange Creme. (check the MGCC dessserts for the recipe)

Before we left for home, Julie "tucked us in" with a devotional and presented us all with these lovely potholders she'd made.

Because each day was so full, I'll save our next 2 days activities for another post.

What fun it is to review all we did.