Party! A Little Bit of Texas for David!!

The spread and everyone digs in!

Lisa, Joan, Sam and Kate get plates of wonderful food!

Kate, Dave and David.

Lisa's incredible buttermilk and pecan pies!

Grandma, Em and David load up their plates!

Fried pickles and chile rellenos from the Fosters!

Nate and David enjoying dinner!

The flag of Texas!

Andy, Mike and David having a chat. 

Landon and Jeff enjoying the company!

Grandpa, Grandma and Kayleen.

Emilee and David, John in the background!

Reggie, Kate, Cindy, Joan and Lisa deep in conversation!

Sam and Reggie, just hangin' out!

John, Em, David, Dave, Mike, David and Jeff.

On Saturday, April 13th, we had a Texas dinner party at our house for David!  It was the idea of our wonderful neighbors, Andy and Cindy Nielsen!  Andy served his mission in Houston Texas and Cindy served hers in Louisiana, close to where David's mission goes on the eastern part.  The Ferrington's lived in Austin while they were in college and our neighbor, Kris Brower, grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana.  The Fosters also lived in Texas for quite a few years before they moved to Utah and really loved it.  So, the idea was to have everyone bring a traditional dish that is commonly found in Texas.  The food was fantastic!  We had beef brisket, cooked all day, that Andy and Cindy brought.  Joan brought a delicious corn salad with avocados, tomatoes and a honey mustard dressing.  The Fosters completely outdid themselves and brought buttermilk pies, pecan pies, chile rellenos and fried pickles (which were incredibly good - who knew?!)  Kris cooked up a batch of black eye peas and corn bread muffins and sent them over with Andy and Cindy.  Kayleen and John brought seven layer dip and chips.  Grandma Marta made banana pudding, which was a huge hit!  I made oven-baked fried chicken and queso cheese dip.  Everyone came and enjoyed incredible food and David got to see what he's in for down in Texas.  He loves good food and enjoyed all of it!  

Once again, I am completely humbled by the generosity and thoughtfulness of our incredible friends!  They are truly the most amazing people on the planet and come up with the greatest ideas on how to give these missionaries a proper send off!  I can't imagine where we would be today without these friendships.  As we grow older and our children grow up, it is so comforting to know that we have such amazing friends in our neighborhood.  I only hope that we can be as good of friends to them as they are to us!  Love them all!