Bridge, Flourless Chocolate Cake, and Jamming

At a few minutes to four this afternoon, the doorbell rang and a married couple my husband had never met arrived to play bridge with us. I'd never met the husband either - he's British, married to an American, whom he met in Alaska, where she's from. I've been playing bridge with her for a year, through the American Women of Berkshire and Surrey club.

Since my friend is gluten-intolerant, David was inspired to make two yummy snacks which were gluten-free:

Flourless Chocolate Cake from Epicurious .com (Bon Appétit's website)

and

Spiced Pecans (with sugar, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and vanilla)

Everyone was happy with the results.

We played 14 hands of bridge and I had a great time. One hand David and I bid a small slam and ended up taking all the tricks. Rats, a grand slam missed! Lots of fun, though.

After our guests left (with their daughter, who is the same age and grade as Emily, and who kept Emily happily busy the whole time), David asked Jason if he wanted to jam for a while: David on bass guitar, Jason on drums! This is the first time they have played together (David just recently got the transformer he needed to make his amp work here in Europe!), and the boys graciously invited me to join them with vocals. I was honored and excited. We gathered in Jason's room, where the drums are, and had a fabulous time with worship songs. Our most successful one ended up being the first one we tried - "In the Hands of a Mighty God," by Lynnae McElroy, a friend of a friend in California:

Your grace is sufficient, Your love everlasting
You're good with Your blessings
And You're all for me

In the hands of a mighty God I am resting
You will prevail and I will trust You
Your love for me is unending
I love you so

And where can I go, You're always there
You're my protection
I have nothing to fear...

It has a great tune, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to have made it anywhere onto the internet, so we'll just have to record it some day to share it with you (ha ha). Thank you, Lynnae, for writing such a wonderful song, and Dave C. for introducing us to it.

After some pizza at our local joint, between rain drops, and one more hand of bridge with our kids, it was bedtime for the younger folks.

Thank You, God, for a lovely weekend. Thank You for knowing we need breaks and for providing them.