When Your Mother Reprimands You ...

... That You're Not Blogging! Uh oh. I've been a bad bloggy-daughter! After all, the first reason I started this blog 7 years ago was to keep my family (and friends afar) informed about my life.

What was my last post anyway? Argh!

So ... last weekend. I do remember that! Julia and I went to Charlotte for a fabulous bridal shower for Shani, my new daughter-in-law. The decorations, the food, the house, the guests -- it was all so wonderful! We had a great time, and I simply adored getting to know Shani's dear family. They are so sweet.

 The photo above is of all the females in Shani's family who were at the shower. (Her daddy, James, whisked himself out of the house as more and more women made their way in!) Mother, for your interest, from left to right: Shani's aunt, her sister Kenya, Shani, her mother Belinda, her grandma, her other aunt, and kneeling is her sister Genet. Peter calls Shani's family rambunctious. I prefer that delightful British term, "larky." They are happy, chatty, busy, hospitable, elegant, fun, comfortable.
Below, Shani opened some really beautiful gifts from many friends. There must've been at least 40 guests at the shower. The other photo is of Shani watching a video Peter made for the shower. She wasn't expecting that :)

 
 I snapped a photo of Kenya and Shani too.

 Dessert table:

 
The treat table:

 Below are prizes for the games. And I won a prize! Shani answered a list of 20 questions about Peter. He had provided the correct answers to Shani's mama beforehand. We guests had to guess how many questions she would answer correctly -- and I guessed 17. And I got it right! I read the questions and felt it was quite likely that Shani and Peter knew each other well, and she would know most of those things. They are a good couple -- good friends, good buddies. They laugh a lot and miss each other so much.

 Even though I provided the photos of Peter in the game below, I still didn't do a good job of guessing their ages!

 I took Shani a whole stack of photos of Peter through his babyhood and childhood. She enjoyed those.

Belinda (Shani's mom) had this banner made. The photo of the couple is from their engagement. The landscape is from the Berkshires, where the wedding will be. And after that happens, I'll post photos again.
In other news: Adam's hand continues to heal. He has a pin in his middle finger, but the stitches in the thumb and index finger will be coming out tomorrow, and they are rapidly improving. Also, Julia is nearly finished with high school. Hooray!!! She has only 2 exams remaining at the local community college. She'll find a summer job and in a few months she will be headed to the mountains for university studies. Life is busy. I've stalled out in writing my newest novel, not because I don't know what happens next in the plot, but because I'm busy with farm work, my job, church stuff, tending to Julia, etc. There's not a lot of "down time" around here, and when I do get a half hour of it, I want to sit still and enjoy it :)

Or write a blog post. Yeah. That's what I need to be doing!!

Love to all!