A Long-Expected Party

Finally 5 o'clock arrived and we all either drove or walked to the party field which was about a mile and a half away.  There a hobbit house had been set up, which was used very effectively for probably thousands of photos! Every elf, dwarf and hobbit had a phone camera in hand! I didn't know any of these people at the time, but we have a Facebook group so now I do know some of them. At the party, however, I just enjoyed all the fantastic costumes.

The gentleman standing on the right in the back is Tim White, 

the one who organizes all this. 

These precious ladies were from California. 

The two on the ends are twins, and the one in the middle is their sister.

Here I am with Amy and her friend Clare, and some hobbit gentleman 

whom we invited into the picture just for fun:

Here is our Aragorn, who actually is from Manitoba, Canada. 

Unfortunately this wasn't the best picture of him, but it's the only one I got.

Near the hobbit house, under a great spreading tree, 

a party area had been set up with electric paper lanterns and lights. 

Folk congregated and chatted. A catered meal was served from within a tent.

A group photo was taken before it got dark.

I heard that at the first ALEP six years ago, a Black Rider came galloping up to the party on a black horse and scared everyone to death. I can imagine that might not have been very welcome!

Our wonderful musicians played and sang funny songs....

Those who wanted to could take part in the fashion show and show off their costumes 

(and some were just beyond amazing):

A homemade dwarf dance was performed:

Simple group dances were done to the live music:

And most importantly, Mr. Baggins was roasted by his friends Gandalf, Aragorn, Thorin, and Balin, and by his nephew Frodo (who told us that his Uncle Bilbo gets up every day at the crack of 2). The laughs were endless!

Here a Lord of the Rings trivia game is being played. 

(Do you know how long Frodo and the other hobbits stayed in Rivendell??)

I  know this is a very fuzzy picture, but I was fascinated with the elf maiden's lantern.

 The light kept changing colors!

Finally, the hobbit choir gathered to serenade us and bring the party to a close. It would be hard to describe how beautiful it all was, the haunting melodies accompanied by 

the singing of many cicadas under the starlight. It was pure magic.

Honestly, my heart was captured by just those few hours. I think Tolkien would have approved. 

And, three years seems an ENDLESS time to wait until Mr. Baggins' next birthday party!