Small Group "M" Party!

It would seem that a lot of momentous events starting with the letter "M" are happening in our small group -- Mimi is going to Morocco for a month-long missions trip, and Mike and Angela are going to celebrate their marriage, and be McKoys together. :) So in honor of all of these "M" events, we threw the three of them a surprise party after our normal Wednesday night small group last night!

Everyone was asked in advance to think of some festive "M" item to bring. So for party fare, we had Martinelli's sparkling cider, mini muffins, M&Ms, macaroons, and even mangoes!

Because it was a special event, we were packed out. We have about 15 or so regular attenders for the Wednesday night group, but it's rare that all of them will all show up on a given week. Looks like we had pretty much everyone join us last night, plus a few newcomers!

Some more assorted photos from the party:

Emily signing one of the cards for our guests of honor

A really cute picture of the happy couple

One of my favorite pictures from the night... Totally captures the essence of Dan Megill

We love you guys!

Lazy Busy Sunday

Apologies for the long blog silence -- it's been my turn to deal with a nasty cold bug for the last week or so. It's not as bad as what David had, but it's been enough head and chest congestion to make me want to spend my evenings curled up on the couch or in bed, and all non-essential internet pastimes have fallen by the wayside...

But rest assured that even sickness won't stop us from having super busy schedules!

This past Sunday, we had been invited to five different engagements. Breakfast with friends before church, YAC brunch after church, a lunch in honor of a friend's ordination, a party in Philly celebrating the birth of the first child of some friends of ours, and a dinner with friends from one of our small groups.

We unfortunately couldn't make it to all of these events -- we're crazy, but we're not quite that crazy.

We ended up going to the YAC brunch (since, you know, we're helping to lead this ministry), and to the ordination lunch immediately thereafter. And, of course, we took tons of pictures!


YAC Brunch:

This brunch was the first of what we hope to be a regular feature -- brunch with the young adults, after church, every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month. This week, we had a pancakes and waffles brunch at Wilson House (which is where we had our Superbowl party).

Battle stations ready!

Never too many chefs in the kitchen with these fun folks!

One of the groups of brunch-eaters

Mmmm, waffles...

Two of the coordinators of this brunch, Mimi and Carrie

It's so fun to see this group beginning to coalesce, and to have these outlets for community and fellowship!


Chris' Ordination Lunch:

David and I had to leave the brunch early to get over to the lunch in honor of the ordination of Chris Sallade. Chris is one of David's coworkers on staff with PEF, and he and his wife, Danielle, are dear friends of ours. So of course we were going to be there with them on this momentous occasion!

Chris with his mentor from Trinity, Dr. Greg Scharf

Pastor Matt of Westerly, and Dr. Scharf

Just some of the amazing spread

Chris' 6-year-old daughter was, of course, appropriately solemn for the occasion

And at no point did his 4-year-old son need to be soothed with jelly beans

Extended family in town for the ordination

Many blessings on you, Rev. Sallade!

Jenitta and Stan!

Yesterday, we attended our first wedding of 2009 -- congratulations to Jenitta and Stan!! It was a beautiful wedding (aren't they all?), and a HUGE Manna reunion -- it was so good to reconnect with so many old friends!

Lots of pictures were taken.

Old friends were excited about seeing each other.

Jenitta alternated between giggling and tearing up on the way down the aisle.

She had a beautiful chapel-length train and veil.

Eternal vows were spoken.

Rings were exchanged.

Parents were honored.

The happy couple recessed together down the aisle.

There was a break between the ceremony and the reception, so we pre-gamed at Wendy's.

There was a huge bridal party.

We learned of another engagement -- congratulations, Jimmy and Gabby!!

The reception had beautiful tall centerpieces -- which didn't obstruct conversation!

Jenitta's family made all 300+ favors: monogrammed cookies.

The couple was greeted at the reception by a bridal party archway -- and confetti!

Jenitta's dress twirled beautifully as they had their first dance.

The MC spoke pretty decent Mandarin and Taiwanese, and brought a round of applause from the mostly Asian crowd every time he did so.

There was a table game involving a spoon, a napkin and a dollar bill.

I got to see some of the '03 Manna girls!

And we all loved being witness to this beautiful love story.

Congratulations, Jenitta and Stan! God bless you as you begin your life together!