Sing for Joy!

Last semester Max and I had the privilege of participating in the PSCA (Peoples School of Creative Arts) Community Choir. Every Tuesday night we gathered to learn together under the direction of Mrs. Clark. Amid much laughter, silly-feeling vocal exercises , and stretching of the vocal chords, the atmosphere of love and unity in Christ was enriching. I feel so close to these precious saints as we prayed together, shared together, and sang together simply for the joy of it. Below are a few photos of our first concert. It was a great experience, and we shared the night with several command performances from the School; including Kaylee as she sang a solo, and Simon with the cello quartet.

All ready to sing!

Several of us gathered for a quick picture before the performance

Connor and Nicole preparing for the big night

The Cello Quartet; Mrs. Alvarado, (teacher) Nicole Werzinski, Conner McCracken, and Simon

The new harp teacher at PSCA blessed us with her music

Not exactly sure why the raised hands but it was for a purpose I'm sure. :-)



Singing!
Max-n-Jenny and Mrs. Clark, our director

An Evening With Chef Pierre

We had the most delightful 25th anniversary dinner given by Chef Pierre (aka Peter Telian)! What a gift of time (Peter prepared days before), close fellowship with our friends Donald
and Cassey, and elegance as the table was gorgeously set, complete with music and candle light. It was a 7 course meal that took two and one half hours to enjoy! The meal consisted of an appetizer of mini pizza's with winter squash topping, of which the crust was deliciously light and fluffy. Then came a wonderful creamy pasta with wild mushroom sauce. After that was a delightful salad with all sorts of yummy things in it, including fresh pistachios, and on the plate with the salad was a homemade Duck pate', which was delicious! After leisurely partaking of
these courses we were served a "cleanse the palate" delight of Earl Grey sorbet and glazed pears. As soon as we let that sit awhile we were served the main entree of Red Snapper, Spicy cous cous, with a vegetable and that was easily "snapped" up with many compliments to the chef! And as if we hadn't had enough....we were then served an artful bowl of parsnip and blue potato soup. It gave us a new appreciation for parsnips as the soup was naturally sweet and yummy coming from the "in season" parsnips that were available. The purple potato was mashed and displayed in a spiral on top of the soup! A most exquisite Chocolate Torte with homemade Pistachio ice cream was the delectable dessert. We sat and talked and had coffee until later in the evening. What an awesome meal and experience we had!!

We are most impressed and it was an evening that I think we will remember until the day we die. We plan to hire Chef Pierre for Scott's next years Christmas dinner for the office. Hopefully having a preview in February just for the associates.

Celebrating Autumn!

November the 10 marked the date of the Autumn 'barn dance' we held here at Parish Acres. Thanks to sewing machines, white lights, delicious treats, beautiful music, and most of all, loving friends, the evening was a wonderful success! Many of the young ladies arrived in 1860's attire, and despite the obvious difficulties this introduced to dancing, made the evening very memorable. :-)
A highlight of the evening was meeting the new Werzinksi children for the first time! They are precious little ones, and it was wonderful to welcome them into our hearts and lives. God bless you Werzinski's.
Another highlight was the arrival of an extremely talented bluegrass guitarist. Max had invited Yoseff and a few of his friends to come and join us, and they arrived later on in the evening. After the last dances, he got out his guitar on request and carried the night away with fancy pickin' and singing. We all joined in and sang some of the old, beloved hymns; finishing off the evening feeling united in fellowship around Christ.

Thanks to all friends and family who came and helped to make this evening so enjoyable. :-)

The final touches



I love you Max-n-Jenny!
Precious Jaelynn kept us all in delight with her charm. :-)

"Smile for the camera!" Dad and Mr. Holly

Kayla Werzinski, Raylene W. Sally, Nichol W., and Maci Davis, enjoying hoop-skirted elegance for the evening.



Gathered around for some jolly singing and toe-tappin'.

Max and Yoseff


Dancing the 'circle dance'

The Duke of Kent's Waltz


This handsome gentleman is becoming quite proficient at calling the dances. Thank-you Dad!


No dance is complete without the Virginia Reel


What a blessing it was to have all my men there!

Twirling and spinning

Kaylee and Jenny dramatically demonstrating a new dance for us.


Mr. Davis and Mr. Parish enjoying some hearty fellowship


Hello Bro's!
A few of the Werzinski Clan

Figuring it all out
Hoop skirts made dancing a delicious challenge

Catching a few couple's mid dance

Max and Jenny, soon to be married in less than 50 days!

Graceful Kaylee

Nicole Werzinski and her new baby sister, Audra! Isn't she precious?

Dancing the night away



Maci Davis and her Mother in their beautiful gowns and gloves.

Curls and flowers accented the beauty of the old-fashioned gowns.

Tonight at the dinner table, we were discussing the evening of family time ahead of us. Raising a dimpled finger, Lilly looked intently at Dad. "And read the Bibal? And read the Bibal?" Max smiled at her asking the question, " Who wrote the Bible Lilly?" With a huge smile she said triumphantly, "Daddy!"

Every night we read Daddy's book. :-) In a sense, I guess it's true!

On Beauty-

"We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words- to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it."

~C.S. Lewis



Image courtesy of Forestwander.com