A Movie Night, A Wedding, A Garden

It has been a fast, fun, and furious month to say the least!

The Movie Night:

When we last blogged we were preparing for our first "outdoor movie night" with the Junction boys.  It was a huge success.  They had a great time as did we. The boys arrived at 4:00pm and left after 10:00pm.  We played darts, washers, and ate until movie time.  Each boy was given 30 tickets to use as money for purchasing concession food and snacks.  They loved the "money" and asked if they could do that again for the next party.  Brenda was so busy running around that she forgot to take pictures until we settled down for the movie towards the end of the evening.

Here are a few photos from the night  (click on photo to get the slide show).  Pictures are bad, since they were taken at the end of the night there was a full trash can and ripped red and white plastic (from everyone leaning against the railing) but you get the idea.

The back porch worked out great as the
concession booth as it was right off the pantry

Brenda's sister JoAnne and helper getting candy and popcorn ready 

The movie

Our menu sign 

The Wedding:

Our niece Cassondra got married June 23rd in Albuquerque.  Brenda and her sister got there a week ahead to help prepare.  It was a very busy week getting over 25 centerpieces and everything else ready for the reception.  The wedding was beautiful and the reception was FUN, FUN, FUN! The attendees danced the night away, over 5 hours of non-stop dancing, no exageration!  The DJ was awesome and kept the party going.  Of course Pete and Cassondra are so much fun and positive to be around that the reception was a reflection of their personalities! 

Hanging out in the backyard
watching Auntie Joie and Auntie Brenda work on centerpieces

Testing out the centerpieces

Visiting before Rehearsal Dinner

 Practicing for the cutting of the cake?

Handing out gifts to the wedding party

Beautiful bride on her way to the church

Here is a slideshow of the reception: 

The Garden:

First Batch of Potatoes

20 LBS!

Chinese Red Noodle Beans

Jalapeños and Cow Peas aka "Blacked Eyed Peas"

Peas after removing from pods

Here's a sampling of the canning we have done to date:

Grandma Ahner's Green Tomato Relish, Jalapeño Jelly, Jalapeño-Onion-Raspberry Chutney, Chipolte Sauce, Ketchup, Pickled Jalapeños, Salsa, Peach Jam (our neighbor brought us some from the Fredericksburg area) and we put up tomatoes and peaches in the freezer.

We also bought a dehydrator and tried drying tomatoes, peaches and some bananas.  They turned out really well.  Next we will try drying some basil from the garden.