The many blessings we've had

This weekend we were lucky to have two wonderful work parties to go to.

Friday
My work, well technically my former workplace, had a fabulous bbq down on a farm just outside of town. After a delicious dinner of kebabs (you have to love kebabs - bell peppers, onions, beef, chicken - yum), fruit salad, and some other good stuff that I can't remember, there were the events.

First up was the caber toss. A few guys from each department went out and took their turn trying to toss a 10 foot fencing pole as far as they could. Although not as big as a normal caber, I definitely was impressed with the guys (of course, customer service won!). Jason had a go later on. Proud to say he tossed that pole like a champ.

Then there was "Hank versus the Celtic Cyclone." One of our chief economists, who is well respected in his field, fought a "bull" in a little play put together by Frank, our company's lawyer. The kids loved it and it was hilarious to see Hank running around with Pat and Brian making up the bull. Brian did a great job, despite the difficulty of, as he said, "trying to act while playing the bull's butt."

The final event was the milking contest between our CEO and the head of the data department. Andrew unfortunately was unable to coax any milk out, so Deacon won hands down with his bowl, despite it even being knocked over in a very unsportsmanlike display of emotion by Andrew halfway through the competition.

It was so much fun to hang out with everyone. Needless to say I will miss seeing all of them every day and I am definitely sad to give up my monthly girls' night dinner with all 6 of my female co-workers. I have been very blessed by working at this job. Never before have I worked with nearly all Christians, and the fellowship with my co-workers and their families is wonderful. I think we might still count ourselves close enough to the company to go to the boating party in July.

Saturday
Last night we had another party, this time for Jason's work. They are nearly complete with the first house that Tim and Nick have been the chief contractors for. It's beautiful (you can see some pictures on Sarah's blog) and they all worked so hard on it.

So in appreciation of the guys' hard work this past year, Tim/Sarah/Nick/Tiffany hosted a bbq. Needless to say the food was delicious. Is there anything better than the summery goodness that is bbq chicken, ribs, potatoes, watermelon, and yummy salad? And they even made homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert! Eliot helped Tim with that one.

After dinner Tim and Nick said a few words of appreciation of the guys' hard work and told us all how thankful and blessed they were to be where they are. They started the company two years ago and have grown quite a bit and are happy and thankful to see the company be where it is. To show their thanks, they gave each family (every married employee has a pregnant wife right now) a car seat (!!!), a handmade baby blanket by Sarah (of course made with the always fashionable Dutch Girl fabric), a knitted baby hat by Tiffany, a wonderfully sweet card, and vacation time for the baby's arrival.

We were all very touched and there were a lot of hugs going around. We've become quite good friends with Tim and Sarah this past year (and looking forward to being closer to them as well as Nick and Tiffany once we move) and feel so blessed for Jason to be working for such great, Christian, and hardworking contractors. And again with Jason's co-workers, the fellowship is wonderful and we love the fact that he works with such great guys and their wives are fabulous to hang out with!

The night ended with some rather....interesting (no need to go any further) stories and much laughter. I was almost crying at one point and I think the four of us on the couch (Jason, me, Nate, and Alexis) almost fell onto the ground we were laughing so hard.

God has truly blessed us here and we hope that we can be a blessing to our friends and family in the years to come.

(If I can move into the unfinished house, which is getting there; have a baby; somehow manage to learn how to be a mother (only by the grace of God); and pray that God continues to sanctify me and continually mold me into a better servant of Christ and a better wife to Jason.)

The end of Liz's really long post. It's 4:30 in the morning and she should try to go to sleep.