Wedding Dress and Modesty Activity

In church we talk a lot about the importance of dressing modestly. Events like a wedding are no exception to the rule. However, it's extremely difficult to find a gown that has sleeves, and isn't cut too low in the front or back.

Thinking it would make a great activity, I thought we could discuss this dilemma and different, stylish ways of making an immodest dress work—like adding a fancy bolero for example. Then as a bonus we asked the women from church if we could borrow their wedding dress so the girls could try them on! (We also displayed photos of the women in their own dresses which was fun to see.)

We set up a platform with a mirror and curtains, invited a photographer to come (thanks Dafni), and had a table full of accessories for the girls to choose from.

Some moms came and had a blast watching their own girls try on their old dress. It's too bad there aren't more occasions to pull out and wear a wedding dress.

Then, as a surprise I also made a "wedding" cake to eat after.

Activities like this are a lot of work, but I want them to be memorable. I also want the girls to have positive experiences to back up the values we are teaching them. The evening was so fun!

Lemon Orange Cake

This is a sour cream pound cake with orange lemon curd filling (all from scratch!) It took 5.5 hours to frost and decorate. I needed to do something cheapish—meaning no fondant or gum paste — so I used ribbon and gum paste flowers I already had on hand. The piping flowers employ a brush embroidery technique. 

I am doing sugar free for the next couple of weeks and I actually MADE it through the day without eating any of this. Well, correction: without swallowing any. (It doesn't count if you take a bite, chew it, and then spit it out right?) Talk about temptation.

 More details on the event for which this was created, coming soon.

This cake has been posted on A Thousand Phases.

Broken Bow Fly Fishing

Adam heard about Broken Bow from one of his co-workers a few years ago. It's a "beautiful place to get away," we were told.

So finally after saying "we should go sometime" about a thousand times...

Adam and his dad and best friend spent a weekend fly fishing on the river.

It was FULL of fishermen, all pulling one fish after another out of the water. Adam didn't catch any. But Lee did; more than one. 

Adam said, "It WAS out in the middle of nowhere. Grandma Peg-Leg and Uncle Bob walked right through the middle of our camp EVERY morning to go fishing and drinking at their regular fishing hole."

Once, the guys found themselves on private property by accident and quickly escaped before getting shot.

Adam enjoyed having his friend and Dad all to himself for the weekend.