Wedding Bells for JW and Danna

Spring has sprung and it is time for JW and Danna's Wedding.  Christmas brought us news of the engagement and the April 17 wedding date.  The wedding was held at Carrie and Ernie's house, in their beautiful backyard.  It was a truly wonderful wedding.  The day could not have been more beautiful.  The ceremony was a real tribute to their love for God and each other.  We had a great celebration, but it was a small event.  So in order to accommodate all their friends, we had a second wedding reception on May 7 at the church.  Another great celebration. 

Chistmas 2010

Christmas brought us a little snow.  It also interrupted our plans.  Because of the 5 inches of snow, Patrick, Pegeen and their families did not make it for Christmas Day to Mom and Dad Calpin's house.  That made for a quieter Christmas.  James and his clan did come down and John was already in town, but with everyone in the house over the age of 13, it made for a more orderly Christmas day.  But still loads of fun.  We opened presents and ate an awesome dinner. 

On Monday, Kathleen and I met up with Karen and the girls and enjoyed an incredible display of ice.  We went to the Gaylord Hotel and saw incredible ice sculptures of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and the Manger Scene.  The pictures do not do it justice.  It was awesome, but cold.  They keep it so cold in the place, they give you huge blue parkas to wear as you walk through the display.  What a Christmas treat.  Pegeen, Dave and the boys did make it up later in the week and we did enjoy visiting with them.

On New Years Eve, the Newton Clan met at our house to ring in the New Year and celebrate Christmas.  We also got to celebrate the fact that JW and Dana were now officially engaged.  What a joy to spend time together and celebrate new beginnings.

 





Thanksgiving 2010

What a year it's been.  What a great time to reflect and give thanks to our awesome God!  We celebrated with our usual clan, but in a new place.  Carrie and her family moved to a new house and we were excited to break it in.  It is on a beautiful creek, and has gorgeous views.  We had our normal incredible dinner and had a lot of fun catching up with the clan.  The rest of the weekend was filled with shopping, putting together the Christmas puzzle, playing Blokus, eating and napping.  A great Thanksgiving weekend.

 

Carrie's 50th Birthday Surprise Party

We really fooled her this time.  Carrie had no idea we were planning a party.  Well, actually she told everyone she wanted a party, she just didn't know any of the details.  She certainly didn't know how many people were so excited to celebrate her birthday.  It was awesome that her best pal, Erin, has a birthday close to Carrie's and they were both turning 50.  So Carrie's other best friend, Penny,  planned and schemed with all of us to put the party for the two of them together. 

It was an awesome celebration.  On top of the birthdays, we asked everyone to bring food for the food pantry and were able to bless them with a huge donation.  We danced, ate, and laughed until we couldn't go any longer.  What a great jubilee celebration.