Ice Cream Social

Yesterday marked exactly one year since we closed on our house.  Because we moved in and got married within the same 2 month period, we never really had time to have a house warming party.  As a result, many of our friends never got to see our house.  I decided about a month ago I wanted to have a party to commemorate our first year of domestic bliss, and wanted to really plan a fun even for our friends, so, I decided to throw an Ice Cream Social.

For the past week, I have been cleaning, and making sure we had everything we needed for a successful party.  Ice cream? Check.  Cones and bowls?  Check.  Toppings galore?  Check.  Snacks?  Check.  I even made some adorable ice cream cone shaped cookies, with help from E (never again will I doubt her, she helped me make the perfect shade of brown icing for the cone portions of the cookies.  Red, yellow, and green, who knew?), as well as some delicious and Weight Watcher friendly cupcakes (2 points each, thank you very much!)

I had the house all decorated, as well as the yard.  I figured it would be easiest to dish out ice cream inside, and have all the toppings and snacks outside.  In retrospect, with the heat, this may not have been the best plan, but oh well, it worked.

Finally, it was party time and everyone was arriving.  We gave a few tours of the house, and then it was time for ice cream!!  I dished it out for people, and let them pick their own toppings.  I was surprised that the favorite ice cream by far was the Neapolitan!

We all sat outside in the backyard, enjoying the beautiful day.  Throughout the party different friends stopped by, and it was a fantastic afternoon.

I think of all the people who attended, the kids had the best time of all.  Of course, ice cream can make a kid out of all of us!

Eventually, as the sun was setting, people started to filter home, full of sugar, tired and hungry.  We hugged friends goodbye, cleaned up the yard, put away the left overs, and released our balloons.

How blessed we are to have such wonderful people in our lives.  For me, being so far away from my family, my friends hold a special place in my heart, and make me feel so at home in my small town.

When I think back on the summer of 2010, and consider what the best day of the summer was, I am pretty sure I will remember today.

Thank you dear friends for coming to our Ice Cream Social.  You made me on very happy small town girl.