RELIEF SOCIETY GARDEN PARTY

Not as pretty without icing!

The teapots with the flowers were so beautiful!

I added this for extra seating and good thing because Laurel and I ended up eating here.  Gracie of course had to try it out first. 

Rick added these pavers inside the fence where they would enter and a rock path on the other side.  

Didn't have enough of the little chairs so we mixed in my blue and cream chairs and it ended up looking so cute and eclectic

I have been gathering a few things over the last few months for this garden party event.  We have been so rainy and it was predicted rain all week.  I was watching it and it would change daily.  The day before it finally showed sun.  Tender mercy for sure.  I made my pasta salad the night before and then woke up at 6 to get working on the cupcakes.  I found the cutest flower cupcake holders in several different patterns and so I had to make them.  I made lemon, vanilla raspberry, and chocolate truffle all topped with nothing bundt cake cream cheese icing.  They were amazing!  Ginger came down at noon and we headed to the store for the balloons and the flowers.  Came back and started to get going. It took us from 1-5 to get everything set up.  It was 95 and I was drenched by the time we were done.  I had time to go clean up before the sisters started to arrive at 6:30.  My committee members all made food so we had a few pasta salads, green salads, fruit kabobs, and chicken salad croissants.  All the food was so good and fresh.  We had 35 ladies come and that is a good turn out for us.  Donna Demaris in the above picture is the epitome of a garden party.  She dresses like this every Sunday hat and all.  She brought several hats and the ladies put them right on.  After they ate and had visited, we had two sisters share how reading the Book of Mormon in the 100-day challenge blessed them.  Wilma who is 77 years old, had never read the Book of Mormon and wasn't too excited for the challenge.  She has been less active a lot of her life and reading is not something she enjoys or feels good at.  What worked for her was to get her CD's out and her large Book of Mormon and she followed along as the CD read.  She finished it and was so excited and she has started over.  The other sister is a convert of a couple years and she too had not read the entire book of Mormon. She said she joined because she trusted the friends that introduced her to the gospel and she really liked the feeling that she got.  She realized that she did need to gain her own testimony and reading the Book of Mormon this summer helped her do that.  While the ladies were talking we had a huge owl fly over and sit atop my roof.  He was pretty impressive to see.   Everyone had a great time and several ladies helped me clean up so it went super fast.  I was glad because I was worn out.  I then had trouble with my legs when I finally got in bed.  At first, I thought maybe I had a blood clot.  My one leg would just seize up and then it would release.  I was less concerned when the other leg started doing it too.  I texted Rick to see what was going on.  I guess I was dehydrated and my electrolytes were off.  I had sweated so much and hadn't taken the time to drink as much as usual.  I drank some gatorade and all seemed well by this morning.   Off the hook hopefully until November.  I am filling in for the nursery until the end of November and I have the littlest ones.  They are so sweet and it has been fun.