Friday was long and stressful. Thankfully, my rockstar chef of a husband made an amazing dinner. He whipped up chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and brie, with the most amazing mushroom sauce (and I don't even really like mushrooms) and baked potatoes. Minus a Linnea meltdown, it was a wonderful meal together. By the time dinner was cleaned up it was time for Linnea to go to bed. Jeromy did some work and watched some TV. I spent most of the night making cookies to bring to the blogger party. It was a new recipe for me - German Chocolate Cake Cookies. They turned out great! I will include more in a future post, as the recipe is one of my 20 new recipes for 2014. Once I had the kitchen cleaned up (I am a notoriously messy baker), it was time for bed.
Saturday morning started with a family movie party! We had hoped to watch Frozen on Friday night, but it got too late after dinner. So we decided that it was a good way to start Saturday. We sat altogether on our little loveseat and watched the movie. It was Linnea's first time, and Jeromy's too. but they both knew the story, thanks to Linnea's favorite book that we read a zillion times a day. I didn't know how Linnea was going to react (I actually wasn't sure she'd sit through it because she has a pretty short attention span). But she sat awe-struck, and watched the whole thing. She didn't have a strong reaction to anything in particular, but seemed to really enjoy it.
Pardon the morning hair and pj's :-)
After breakfast, I was feeling a little lazy, but Jeromy motivated us all to get out and go for a walk since the weather was decent. So we went for a walk (all of us, including Luther) to the park. It was a little icy at the playground, but it was all just perfect. Linnea loved going down all the slides, and mastered climbing the big ladder. Luther loved basking in the sun, watching everything.
Making our way to the park...
This is the face of a Minnesota girl who has been cooped up all winter, and is finally getting to be outside!
The party was great fun! It's such a fun concept - each person brings 3 of their favorite things (we had everything from wine, to hair care products, to hand soap, to chocolate (which of course is what I brought!). Then we draw names three times, and each person gets to choose what they will take home. I loved the things I came home with - a couple different chapsticks, a fun pouch, some candy, and an awesome salad dressing shaker. Best of all, I was able to meet some awesome bloggers, many of whom I have been following/communicating with already. I was especially happy to meet Dawn and Sarah, both of whom I had met online, and looked forward to meeting in person. Pleasure meeting both of you, ladies!!
The table of gifts (thanks for the picture, Melissa!)
The whole group...I stole this from Melissa, who stole it from someone else... :-)
After the party we made a Target run (they seriously get all our money), and then headed over to Eden Prairie for the evening. First, we had a quick family dinner at Panera, and then dropped Linnea at my parents' for a sleepover (because we had our friend Tom's birthday). It was a bit of a bummer, because Jeromy got called into work, so he drove all the way back home to get his work computer, only to find out they had accidentally called him for a project he wasn't working on, so he drove back and forth for no reason. Regardless, we had a great time at the party with our friends. We laughed because our party was very segregated - all the guys downstairs watching basketball and playing pool, and all the ladies upstairs having girl talk. After the party we headed home and crashed.
Because Linnea was at my parents' house on Saturday night, we were able to sleep in a little on Sunday morning, and found that it was much easier getting out of the house on time...imagine that! :-) We got up and got ready to go, and headed to church. Linnea did awesome at my parents' - she slept until 7:50 (which she hardly ever does for us!), and came to church very happy. After church we went to Costco (they get the rest of our money) for a few things. We ended up having pizza for lunch there (seriously...have you have their pizza? It's the best!). We came home and put Linnea down for a nap, and then I headed out to help my mom set up for my dad's big 70th birthday party!
The party was awesome. It was held in the common room of one of my mom's friends from church. Another set of friends (one of whom does competitive BBQ competitions), catered the food - awesome pulled pork sandwiches and BBQ chicken, pasta salad, and a delicious lettuce salad. My parents' neighbor, who is a baker, made the cake. It was one of the best I've ever had - lemon (one of my dad's favorites) with this lemon curd/mouse filling. YUM!
It was a little crazy, with Linnea and all the other kiddos running around, but it was so much fun! We are really blessed with an amazing group of family and friends. And let me tell you...my dad is one of the greatest guys around. He is one of the nicest, most generous, friendliest, loving man I've ever known. And it shows in the quality of his family and friends. It was a great night celebrating a wonderful man. I love you, Dad!!
My amazing parents. How cute are they? (Notice the name tag I made my dad) :-)
Helping Grandpa blow out the candles
A great joy of my life right now is watching these two peas in a pod together...
Linnea had been talking about Grandpa's birthday cake for at least a week...it did not disappoint!
It was a great weekend filled with lots of fun with friends, both new and old.
Linnea- She's just too cute!
ReplyDeleteSO great to meet you! I had such a great time at the blogger party- don't feel intimidated- I barely feel like a legit blogger too. We'll have to get together sometime- you, me, Melissa and the girls! It would be so much fun!
Your daughter is adorable! Costco and Target get all our money too :)
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