Holiday Monday

On the spur of the moment I organized a little backyard bonfire.

My friend Matthew had called me asking if we could get together and do something fun.  This is really an irresistible request if you know Matthew.  He is one of my biggest heroes, as he suffers stuff few young men his age could even imagine and yet he faces life with a smile and encourages and cheers all those he comes in contact with.  He genuinely loves people and is interested in them.

Because I am in a wheelchair and Matthew is in a wheelchair it's pretty much impossible for me to take him out for a good time so I just invited him and about 20 other people over to enjoy the holiday Monday evening.

We had a wiener roast, the kids had an egg hunt in the orchard, the teens and dad's
played some soccer and the rest of us ate and froze around the fire as the evening grew colder.  There were lots of dogs too.

I've been wanting to create a bit of space up here for gatherings with people from church so this was a start.  It felt so good to be outside and I hope to do more of this kind of thing this year.

People bring food, and since it's outside there is less work involved and there are many hands helping out.  Here are all the men doing the hard work of roasting the wieners...

Sweet Abi took her brother Matthew on the egg hunt so they could find the treat with his name on it!  

Ladybug obviously felt somewhat nervous as she jumped right up on Patrice's lap.  She's a little big for a lap dog, but more manageable than Moose. 

Micah was posing with his pocket full of goodies but he was photobombed by his sister holding up a much bigger bag of loot. 

Here are the guys in the back field keeping warm by playing soccer.  

Many marshmallows were torched throughout the evening.  

So great to sit and visit in the dark with the bright stars shining overhead and the warm coals pulling us all in closer.