Day 246: Showering a Bride to Be

Aw, what a sweet afternoon Keturah and I had with Grandma at a bridal shower!  I don't get many invitations to these things, so I try to go when I do get invited and enjoy every bit of it.  I was asked to take photos for the event, too!  I told them I'm not a pro but I'll do my best. The bride is from here, but the groom is from Sierra Leone, where the bride's parents are from.  We are actually closer to the parents than the daughter, and I think a bunch of the other ladies there were too.  Miss Joyce had a few of her friends there as well.  There was lots of food and cake of course, party games, gifts, and tons of laughter, and even a few tears.  Joyce and her mom Rhoda are just some of the sweetest women you'll ever meet.  We have known Rhoda and her whole family probably since our own wedding many years ago.

I really enjoyed playing the part of the photographer out in the open instead of hiding in the shadows.  I didn't have to participate in the games themselves, but smiled and snapped away with my camera lens.  I am tired, but in a great way.  Oh, and the couple are going to get married in Sierra Leone because the grandparents and his parents/family are from there!  I would love to see that!  I love cultural based weddings!  I love seeing how different cultures celebrate different big occasions.

So, that was the biggest part of my day.  The boys spent their day studying for Bible Bowl and playing video games (and napping).  We met them at church for service at 5:30.  We did some tidying up at home to prepare for tomorrow, which will be my actual preparation for the week day.  I'll be home all day on a Sunday no less!  Weird!

Here's a few pics of the day.

I won this whole jar of giant deluxe Hershey kisses!  How?  Math!  Guess how many make up one layer, multiplied by how many layers there might be and voila! 72 kisses to exact!

Party favors to bring home.

Keturah and I's favorite treat!

Cupcakes!

Sweet older ladies catching up because they haven't seen each other in years.

We started off with a prayer circle.

Sweet Rhoda nad her sweet daughter Joyce, the bride to be.

Joyce and her two best friends.

One game was about finding the "dress" made of toilet paper.  Adorable!

Second cake had beautiful icing flowers on it.

Photo booth time!  Keturah with Grandma!

Our gift for Joyce, and she was very excited about it!  She even said she might have to break them out and use them before the wedding, lol.

One of the funny moments today was when a guest thought she was going to a baby shower, so she brought in some baby gifts!  Joyce was gracious enough to laugh it off and said that maybe they'll have kids soon, well, 10 months at least after the wedding.  Joyce kept them!

Gorgeous runner from India made up of worn out silk clothes in India.  Joyce was in tears because of the sentiments the giver  wrote in the card.

Mother, mother, daughter, daughter.

Meanwhile, "Pastor" (as Rhoda calls him) made his 21st mountain climb!  Another 14,000 ft one!  He said it was freezing cold and they were going to start going down pretty quickly..  Just like "Pastor Tom" preached tonight that he needed a stress reliever at the end of the day from being a minister by making models, "Pastor Gary" needs down time like this too!  These Labor Day weekend hiking trips with various other guys from the church have happened for several years now.  What fun!