Philia Love Party

Hospitality is one of the core passions Allen and I share and a virtue we hope to instill in our children. We want to live our lives wide open to others, sharing the ordinary and extraordinary with those God invites into our story. . . We believe it is essential to the Christian life, a pertinent aspect of being the "body" and sets the stage for unique encounters of God though relationship.

That being said, our current house isn't exactly ideal for huge parties (particularly our urban-sized dining area), so we've typically limited get-togethers at our place to one or two couples at a time. . . Last week, however, we both had an overwhelming urge to get lots of our friends together and felt like Valentine's week would be a great time to do it. . .

So in the spirit of celebrating Philia love (Friendship in Greek), 10 of our closest friends and their kids gathered at our house last night. We shared lots of stories, laughter, and life over an Italian dinner and fondue. It was perfect (in my opinion). . . so wonderful to be surrounded by so much love and new life!

We missed our friends Angela and John and their girls Baylor and Briley. Hopefully, we'll have another opportunity to do this soon and they'll be able to join us! :)

Thanks to my mom-n-law for the 6ft table, table cloths, candles, plates, and silverware. Our party wouldn't have been nearly as successful without you! :)

For those of you who don't know my husband well, he is quite the party king! Most men sit on the sidelines while their wives decorate, cook, and prepare for big events. He's right in the middle of it all, helping and offering creative ideas every step of the way! There are no words to describe how grateful I am for such an involved husband! I absolutely adore him!!

Josh, Sam, Ben, and baby Elsie
Jeremy and Adeline
Ben with a goofy smile and sweet baby Elsie (also smiling)! :) She's just 5 weeks old!
Adrian and Lindsey
Jonah had a bit of social anxiety as people poured into our house. He started sweating and looked really concerned. He came to me in the kitchen, pulled on my leg and said "Hold you, Mom." (with a frightened look in his eyes). I made a bottle to calm his nerves. It seemed to work. :)
Baby Elsie
Jeremy, Adeline, Adrian, Cole, and Jonz in the background
Ben and Elsie again
All of us at dinner. :)

The boys.
Adrian and Cole
The kids watching Cinderella. . . Lydia brought a special dress. She wanted to dance with Jonah! :)
Kristen and Elsie
Adrian, Lindsey, and Adeline
I wish pictures could capture the noise, laughter, and energy of our home last night. . . They just don't do it justice in my opinion! :)

Cheers to the gift of friendship and the beauty of evolving families! We are so blessed to share life with these incredible people!!

(PS: This is the 3rd post of the morning. . . playing catch up. Scroll down to see what else we've been up to lately.) :)