The Merry English Country Ball, 2011

Last summer, our family had the privilege of being invited to an English Country Ball, hosted by the Merry family.  (For those not familiar with what this might be like, just think about those group dance scenes in movies based on Jane Austen novels.)  Well, it is an exceedingly fun time...even though we 21st century dancers require a "caller", play the music off of an ipod and occasionally find the younger set falling into a sense of total chaos on the dance floor.  But it's all good!  These pictures and video are from our experience at The Second Annual Merry English Country Ball.

A fine young maiden must concern herself a bit with her appearance before the ball.

The gallant Mr. Merry greeted us in the period jacket that his daughter Kelle fashioned.

Mr. Grant, who surprised us with his unannounced visit over the weekend, was able to create more memories with his girls.

If you pay close attention to the Pride & Prejudice movie, you will spot several women wearing red denim jackets.  Really! 

Photo op #1.

And #2...

...#3...

Now the men...

Notice the guys with the costumes clustered together...strength in numbers, gentlemen!

Waiting patiently for the photo session to end!

Belle danced her heart out.  She is so cute.

Our young lady did so much better this time around.  She was much more at ease with all the dances, and deepened some friendships along the way.  Both the girls smiled the entire evening.

The above is a video that I risked my life to shoot, because it can get a little crowded and crazy on the dance floor.  I just giggle at how much fun my hubby is having...for being so manly, he sure can dance and "skip" around!  My girls just have so much fun with him.  At the end of the video, you see that Belle and her little group of friends are struggling just a bit to keep up and understand the calls, but that doesn't interfere at all with their enjoyment of the evening. 

Our deepest thanks to the Merry family for hosting this one-of-a-kind event!