Monday, May 17, 2010

Sister's Seattle Bridal Shower

Last Saturday, May 15, the four of us bridesmaids along with Molly's two honorary bridesmaids hosted a bridal shower for Molly in Seattle.

Here is the little table that greeted the guests as they came into the home...a basket of blank envelopes for people to write their address on to speed up the thank-you note process for Molly.

Followed by a place to put the bridal shower gifts...

...and a table showing off the kilt, coat of arms, clan badge, engagement announcement, and scrapbook supplies for writing marriage advice notes on for Scott and Molly. I made sure to take pictures of every guest so that we can put a little photo of the person along with their advice together in the memory scrapbook.

It was a mid-afternoon bridal shower so we decided to have a chocolate fountain for dipping fresh fruit, angel food cake, marshmallows, and the like. It smelled DIVINE! Chocolate and white cupcakes were also served topped with a big fresh raspberry on top. M-m-m!

A view of the food table from up above (upstairs)...

Cinnamon bears, chocolate covered pretzels, red hots, and red and black licorice on the living room coffee table continued to carry out our red, white, and black color scheme/theme.

Crackers, cheese, chips, veggies and dip with the red gerber daisies adorned the kitchen workstation.

And the sangria, water, and non-alcoholic cran/raspberry punch adorned the other kitchen workstation.

Here is a sweet picture of fiance Scott's Mom with Molly...

And a picture of Molly with fiance Scott's sister (soon to be sister-in-law) Kristy.

Pictured below is Ceceilia, Scott's Dad's wife, and Molly.
Here is Molly with our Mom, Amy, and our good family friend, Karen!
Molly's former housemate, Stacia, came with her darling 3 month old daughter, Poppy.
And here are some photos of friends from Molly's church. They participate in a small group Bible Study together.
A photo of bridesmaid Danielle...
Good friend Courtney...
...and bridesmaid Debbie from Oregon.
Following are several snapshots taken while guests filled out a "How well do you know Molly" worksheet for the bridal shower game.
The bridal shower was so much fun (and beautiful)!


Following the bridal shower a small group of us went out to dinner together. To make Molly "stand out" from the rest of us, we gave her this white "bride" t-shirt and cute little veil to wear. Isn't she beautiful??? How gorgeous is she gonna look in her bridal gown when she looks this good in a t-shirt and jeans!!
Looking forward to your wedding day on July 10th, sis! Love you!
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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Molly's Family Bridal Shower

Saturday morning, May 8th, we enjoyed watching these three munchkins play together. Jay was especially great with baby Sarah (giving this Mom some hope that he'll be sweet and good to his new baby brother in about a month).

Jay giving baby Sarah a kiss while she got in some tummy time.
The five of us ladies, (back row left to right) bridesmaid Debbie from Oregon, cousin Amy, myself, sister-in-law Mandy, and cousin Alisha hosted a salad luncheon bridal shower Saturday afternoon to celebrate my sister's upcoming wedding.
Punch, water, coffee and tea table with a beautiful floral bouquet leftover from Grandma's memorial service the day before.
The food table...8 varying salads, a meat and cheese tray, and Mom's homemade crescent rolls.
The gift table
Here is the display table with what now will be Molly's wedding china that Grandma Dorothy bought/used, along with fiancee Scott's family's tartan/kilt, family coat of arms, and family crest.
Christina lived with our family for several years in highschool. It was good to see her and we snapped this picture of the three of us together.
Guest table #1
Guest table #2
Guest table #3
Guest table #4
Guest table #5
Guest table #6
Pictured a bit later is the head table at which Mom, Molly, and Grandma Alma sat. Grandma Alma lovingly provided the floral basket centerpiece for the head table and the floral corsage that Molly wore.

After lunch I shared a short devotion for Molly. This picture was taken just after I finished my "speech."
Cousin Alisha organized a fun little game followed by us hostesses serving angel food cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream on top. M-m-m! Then the gift opening began!



As you can see, she had lots of little girls "helping" out.


Here is Aunt Mary Kaye explaining to Molly a few things about her new Bosch mixer. Lots of family members went in together to purchase a new one for her. (This is somewhat of a tradition in our family - getting a new Bosch mixer to use in our new family homes, I mean. We love our Bosch mixers!)
A quick family photo - me and sister-in-law Mandy in back row; Mom, Molly, and Grandma Alma seated in front.
And I'll end this post with a montage of pictures of a tender moment exchanged between Mom and daughter following the conclusion of the bridal shower.


Molly, we are so happy for you and are so looking forward to taking part in your special wedding day in July! Love you!
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Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Honoring Grandma Dorothy's Life

Grandma (my Mom's Mom) passed away on Wednesday, April 28th, peacefully in her sleep, just the way she always wished to "go home." She is now with Jesus, dancing, and feasting at His table. Praise the Lord!

This past Friday, May 7th we traveled home to be with family to celebrate and honor her presence in our lives. The viewing for the family was held at the funeral home at 9:30 a.m. followed by the procession to the cemetary for the graveside service at 10:30 a.m.

The pallbearers were all my male cousins, Grandma's grandsons - 8 total.


Family photographs and a family lunch followed at Emanuel Lutheran Church. Grandpa Art and Grandma Dorothy married in 1942. They had 5 children, 17 grandchildren, and 32 great-grandchildren (with 2 more currently on the way). There are 64 of us in the photo below. 66 of us were in attendance for the memorial service out of our current total of 73 in the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren category. Suffice it to say, it was a terrific family reunion. During the service held at 2 p.m. the 15 of us grandkids who were present at Grandpa and Grandma's 40th anniversary celebration sang "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us" just like we did in 1982 (when I was 5 years old). Thankfully Cousin Matt didn't faint during rehearsal like he did nearly 20 years ago.
Cousin Kathy (pictured below) read a beautiful tribute titled "My Grandma." Then brother Scott, sister Molly, and I performed our Amazing Grace/Unclouded Day/I'll Fly Away/Sweet Country medley on our fiddles and guitar - something Grandma ALWAYS remarked when we played it for occasions, "You are playing that at my funeral someday."
The church was filled with family and friends.
Refreshments and fellowship followed the service in the church basement. Pictured below are the three surviving siblings of Grandpa Art. From left to right - Olga, Dan, and Hannah.
My Dad's brother, Uncle Gary, brought Grandma Alma to the service and reception. She'll turn 96 at the end of July. Isn't she beautiful?
It was a memorable, wonderful, somewhat bittersweet day. Being with family and friends was really special. Being just 4 weeks away from my due date was evident by the end of the day (my feet and ankles retained water, my muscles were quite sore, etc.) but I'm so glad I was able to take part in and enjoy the celebration of Grandma Dorothy's life. What a legacy she and Grandpa left!

*Special thanks to cousin Kathy's blog post where I "stole" some of the pictures for this post.
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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Cooking School

Last Friday night, April 30th, Matt and I enjoyed a date night with some of Matt's co-workers. We had a very fun evening together at Seattle's Blue Ribbon Cooking School! Our menu theme for the evening was Rustic Italian.

When we first arrived we enjoyed pre-made appetizers and drinks. It was a treat to enjoy their non-alcoholic Lavender Lemonade and Cranberry Ginger Iced Tea (my personal favorite of the two). They had a delicious antipasti platter that had gourmet cheeses and cured meats. I really enjoyed the Trio of Crostini: Chickpea and Mint Crostini, Anchovy Bruschetta: Brushetti di Alici (Anchovies and Garlic), and Traditional Caprese (Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil Bruschetta). The recipes for the trio of crostini's (and all the dinner menu recipes) were provided in a little booklet for each participant to take home. I hope to make the chickpea and mint crostini again...the combo of mint and chickpeas was different and really yummy. Matt and I love caprese salad - a frequent favorite of ours especially in the summer months when it is too hot to cook.

After some good fellowship time our group was led into the kitchen and we learned a bit of history about our chef teacher for the evening. He was terrific! We split into four teams, each team choosing a particular part of the evening's meal to prepare with chef's oversight. Matt was on the team that learned how to make Gnocchi al Romana (Semolina Gnocchi with Italian Salami and Bechalmel Sauce). I was on the dessert team. We learned how to make the Fig, Honey and Pine Nut Tart with Lemon Infused Creme Fraiche. The other teams prepared the remaining dishes...Tossed Green Salad with Lemon and Chives, Artichoke and Proscuitto Stuffed Chicken Breast with Romano Cheese, Roasted New Potatoes, Grilled Italian Vegetables, and Homemade Basil Pesto.

Here I am slicing up the candied figs that went on top of our dessert tarts

Chef showing us how to make delicious homemade basil pesto


The spread!
Upper left going counter clockwise:
Tossed Green Salad w/ Lemon and Chive dressing
Roasted Rosemary New Potatoes
Gnocchi al Romana w/ salami and bechamel sauce
Artichoke and Proscuitto Stuffed Chicken Breast w/ Homemade Pesto
Grilled Vegetables
(Asparagus, Red Bell Peppers, Yellow Squash, Zucchini,
Eggplant, Cremini Mushrooms, Green Onions)

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of the beautiful finished Fig, Honey and Pine Nut Tarts before we consumed them. As I'm typing this up tonight, I just now realized our dessert team was also supposed to make the Lemon-Infused Cultured Cream Dessert Sauce, but we ran out of time. The tarts were delicious all on their own, but I can see where the dessert sauce could put them over the top.

Once everything was ready, we all sat down and enjoyed the sumptious feast. I'm looking forward to using these recipes again for special home feasts of our own in the coming year/years.

It was a very fun evening - right up this cook's alley!!
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