A visit from a friend!

In between the everyday late Spring work of gardening and mowing, finishing school until the next school year begins again [the majority of it anyway!], deep cleaning and remodeling...we had a friend come and visit us for ten days! We've known Aleita and her family for eight years, and this was the third year in a row that Aleita was able to travel to Northwestern Pennsylvania to come and see us. The kiddos look forward to Aleita's coming even more than they anticipate Christmas-time! :) We had LOTS of fun...we spent a day at the lake, enjoyed a special alfresco dinner party, played bocce and volleyball, had numerous picnics and cookouts, went hiking and "tunneling" with friends, visited Niagara Falls [and even squeezed some girl-time in for mani/pedis and coffee at Spilling the Beans!]. Even though we only get to see each other once a year, Aleita is so much a part of our family and we really appreciate her friendship, encouragement, and godly example to each of us. We miss you already and can't wait until next year, Aleita!

I'll slowly post some of the [thousands] of photos we've taken over the last couple of weeks... to start with, our dinner party! Small, intimate, shared meals have become a sort of passion of mine lately, so I wanted to create an extra special one while Aleita was here. Most of our meals are pretty informal, but we definitely went all out this time with a simple but elegantly decorated table and yard, and five gourmet courses--from baked date crostini appetizers all the way to grilled pineapple, nutmeg, and caramel sundaes for dessert! It was delicious. :)

P.S. If you love pie [and we sure do!], you definitely must read Herriott Grace's For the Love of Pie. A weekly series that celebrates the simple things and shares some super-yummy pie recipes. :)