Easter, Wedding, Family

It was a very busy beginning to April. The kids started the month with a week of spring break. We did nothing special, but spent lots of time together at home. Go Fish, UNO and movie time was the theme of our days together. Ben went out of town for a couple days and the kids cuddle in close and relaxed. The end of the week brought Memere, Pappa Lloyd, and Grand Pepere to our house, we had been counting down the days and we were so excited when they finally got here. We fit a lot of stuff into a few days and it was so much fun. Friday night was a fish family dinner at our house with aunts and uncles, Saturday was movies for the kids and grandparents and yardwork and time with Pepere for Ben, Owen and I. Then it was off to Auntie Christine's (and Uncle Ken's) - who just moved here from New Hampshire, yeah! We celebrated Auntie Annette's birthday with another fish dinner this time salmon on the grill, yum. Easter Sunday dawned bright and early with children eager to see what the Easter Bunny brought. It was so fun to share the morning with M, PL, and P. They had to get up extra early though, but there were smiles all around. Off to Mass with the whole family, we took up a pew and a half. How I love to have lots of family around us to celebrate the love of God. Then it was home to quickly throw the ham in the oven and prepare the other food for all of our guests. We had both sides of Ben's family the Marnell's and LeBeau's, 25 adults and 5 kids. We are blessed to finally be able to celebrate the holidays with family and host it in our home. Food was good but the company was better, and the day was completed with an Easter egg hunt in the yard for the kids. Monday the kids were supposed to go back to school, but we gave them a mental health day and took Memere, Pappa Lloyd and Pepere to the GA Aquarium. It was fun filled taking in the dolphin show and the 4D show there, we caught a quick lunch and were back home in time for the kids to show off their stuff at martial arts. Pizza for dinner and then to bed. The days were filled. Tuesday brought the packing of our current guests as they were moving on to stay at Auntie Annette's house and the welcoming of Aunt Gail, Uncle Dave and Jessica. The kids got to go to school, they were thrilled. Tuesday night brought more fun memories and Wednesday brought another birthday celebration for Aunt Sharon. Thursday we began the real wedding festivities for Auntie Annette was marrying our Favorite Uncle Ray soon and we had to have a bachelorette party. We also slipped in a trip to Broosters for ice cream with Memere a tradition with any visit to or from Memere. More family arrived for lunch on Thursday and I finally got to repay lunch to Uncle Dennis and Aunt Marie, we always crash their place for lunch when we are in Connecticut and for the first time I could let them crash ours. Friday was a day filled with prom dress shopping, I thought I'd have a few years before I got to partake in such an activity but thanks to cousin Jessica I got to do it this year. We really had a lot of fun with lots of laughs particularly trying on the Little Bo Peep dress...wish I had a picture. She chose a gorgeous yellow one that she only makes more gorgeous. Can't wait to see pictures of that day. Cousins dinner at our house Friday night was filled with lots of memories and good food and ended with some of us around the fire talking about things that only family shares, ah lots of laughs about disgusting topics. Saturday we partook in the wedding that has been long in coming but we are all so happy that they are finally together forever. It was a beautiful Mass with a fantastic homily that culminated in a wonderful reception. Sunday brought one last family picnic before everyone headed home. The memories from that week plus will last forever and I'm so thankful for all the wonderful family we got to share them with.