A COUNTRY TEA

This afternoon we hosted a "Country Tea Party" for our friends from church. It was a fun occasion for enjoying special tea foods (sausage quiche, tomato/basil and cucumber/dill sandwiches, fresh veggies and fruit, citrus scones, biscotti, and more) and for fellowshipping together with friends. The highlight was a time of answering questions such as "What are some skills you are learning to become a better homemaker someday?", "How can we encourage our daughters to love being keepers at home?", and "What is your favorite hymn and why is it special to you?". Hearing the mothers and daughters answer the questions from their personal experience was truly edifying. We are so blessed to have friends who are training their daughters to be keepers at home by their example and teaching.

Part of the fun of the tea was getting "dressed up". Here is Allison in her finery. (Mrs. Beachy, thanks for the hats, dresses, etc.)

This is Chelsy -ready for a party!

Here we are at a table long enough for 22 of us- sipping our tea, enjoying the delicacies, and fellowshipping.

Anniversary photos

The beautiful cake our pastor's wife made to celebrate. (thank-you, Mrs. Desaulniers!!)

Cutting the cake.

Feeding each other the cake because, as our pastor said, "the Bontrager children don't really remember the first time they did it"...:D

Obviously still in love............:D

The Blessing of Good Food

I am so thankful for the rain and sunshine that God sends so we can enjoy the fruit of the land. There is no better food than what is grown on the land. And when you get to be part of the process the food tastes even better!
It all started at 6:30 this morning when Chelsy, Allison, and Carson went to our neighbor's truckpatch to pick green beans. These were long, slender, and beautiful green beans-just waiting to be picked, so the 3 energetic young people picked, picked, and picked some more. At 9:00 I helped them finish picking the produce which came to six 5-gallon buckets! We left one bucket for our neighbor to take to the market and came home with the rest. Then most of the family joined in with stemming the beans. Even my mother-in-law graciously came over to help for awhile. By mid-afternoon I started steaming and packaging the beans for the freezer. What a joy it will be to pull out a bag of green beans for a family meal next winter. We love to cook them with some garlic, minced onions, a few herbs, and butter. m-m-m-m

"Many hands make light work."

"And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yeilding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw tht it was good." Genesis 1:12