LOGOS class Christmas dinner

Last month we had our LOGOS class over to our house for a time of fun and fellowship. That night, we decided the next class event should be a Christmas dinner. We talked about various dates, times, and places and finally agreed to make reservations at MANGIAMO's (formerly Gibson's) for Saturday night, December 1. We planned to meet there at 5:00, enjoy an "early" dinner and then come back to the Joneses (here!) for dessert and Christmas carols afterwards.

Mangiamo's on Lake Drive

As the date for our dinner approached, I did my usual household preparation: cleaning, baking, more cleaning -- and since this was a Christmas get-together, I spent all week decorating the house. I had so much fun getting everything ready for folk to come over! But wouldn't you know? "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" to quote Robert Burns (even though he was a scoundrel). By mid-week, we were receiving some rather grim weather forecasts for the weekend. But what do weather people know, I thought to myself (rather naively), and TRIED to be optimistic about our upcoming event. Out here, in our neck of the woods, we received about 4 inches of snow Friday. Rockford Schools were closed! Whew! I was glad we got the snow Friday -- surely by Saturday, roads would be clear! However, by Saturday morning, there were dire predictions of a dreadful storm heading right for us, and set to begin at about 4:00 that very afternoon! The bad thing about this storm is that the forecast included snow, rain, sleet, freezing rain, and then more snow.

The six couples who made it to Mangiamo's
Another shot of the group ...
On the way to the restaurant, streets were pretty clear. It was only just beginning to snow! Perhaps the storm would hold off for just long enough ...! Two of the couples phoned to say they were running a little bit late; but finally everyone arrived, and we enjoyed a wonderful meal together. I had always wanted to go inside Gibson's and never had the opportunity. Changing the name to Mangiamo's didn't make any difference to me. This is just a nice old (huge) house that is so warm and homey -- a great setting for a restaurant. As we sat around the table talking, we noticed the snowfall increasing. I was just a tiny bit worried that the dessert time would be cancelled ... Mr. Jones and I left a few minutes ahead of folk in order to get home and shovel out the driveway (again!) and clear the way for our friends to arrive. What a hazardous drive back to our house! The snow had already turned into rain and freezing rain. There was ice everywhere. It was difficult to see. There were cars in ditches along the way. We made it home safely -- but our answering machine was FULL of messages of regret from our friends' cell phones, telling us that it was just too unsafe to travel out to our place. Dessert was cancelled! Truthfully, I was glad no one had ventured over. But I was disappointed too! I had worked so hard all week to get ready!

I returned a few of the phone calls, and everyone was so apologetic and kind. And then Nigel suggested that everyone come over Sunday afternoon and do dessert then. What a great idea! We made some calls and it was decided -- if we were not snowed in by morning (!), we would all go to church, have our class, and discuss details there. And that's exactly what happened. Three o'clock turned out to be a good time for everyone today (although two of the couples could not come at all). So here are some pictures of our time together today.

I baked Russian tea cakes, thumbprint cookies,
spritz Christmas trees, and mint-chocolate chip cookies ...
and a moist pumpkin pie bar!I love getting everything ready for friends to visit!Bob and Kay (below)
We enjoyed some yummie punch by the nice warm fireplace.
We sang Christmas carols
(accompanied by ME on the piano!), and
we sounded pretty good too as we
praised our Lord with song ...
and the afternoon passed pleasantly by!
This is Michelle and Gene
Angela and Nigel
Angela read us some humorous
Christmas short-stories ...
this is the same Angela from Germany, who is
the instructor of my exercise class.
What a wonderful afternoon together!
I love the love of these friends!
"...if we are living in the light of God's presence,
just as Christ is,
then we have fellowship with each other ..."
1 John 1:7