Friday, 4/29/2011

For Christmas my parents gave me two raised garden beds.  My parents drove over this evening to spend the weekend with us and build the beds.  I'm really excited to see how much I can grow during the summer.  I was busy cleaning and preparing the house for their arrival today, and didn't want to dirty dishes for dinner.  I chose to make a large green salad with some left-over Easter ham on the side for my dinner.  I ate right out the bowl I mixed it in. 

It was so nice to be able to stay with my parents until Tuesday morning this week and then have them visit us this evening.  It has been wonderful for Katie to get to spend so much quality time with them. And, it has really made Ben's time away go much more quickly than usual. He comes home tomorrow, and I can't wait to see him! 

Monday, 4/25/2011

This morning, my parents, Katie and I had the pleasure of meeting my grandpa Norm at the airport.  He is taking a trip to see the World War II memorial, courtesy of Inland Northwest Honor Flights.  What an awesome experience to see my grandpa wearing his uniform jacket, showing photos of himself wearing it 70+ years ago.  Katie made the 6 o'clock news, waiving her flags at the airport.  I'm so glad we were able to stay in town to be a part of it.

Katie, mom and I went out to my brother Matt's house to visit for lunch.  We had tuna fish sandwiches and chips for lunch.  I just had tuna, no bread or chips.  Ben called while we were there, and we were able to Skype with him for a few minutes.  Thanks Matt for letting us use your computer!

I had a small salmon fillet and a side salad for dinner tonight.  I was really pleased with the quality and flavor of the salmon. There was only enough salmon for mom and me to have, so my dad had some ham for dinner.  Katie had a hot dog with ketchup, cheddar cheese, and tried a green bean.  She gagged on it.  Hmmm, she must have gotten that reflex from me.  Sorry Katie!

Sunday, 4/24/2011

Happy Easter!  Christ the Lord is risen today!

When Katie woke up, we let her search for her Easter basket.  She found it right away and was wonderfully thrilled with each thing in her basket.  Animal crackers, straws that turn regular milk into chocolate milk, a book about a lamb, a Dora the Explorer backpack, a flower headband, and a Disney princess coloring kit.  After breakfast we went to church with my parents and grandparents this morning.  We quickly had lunch so that I could get Ben to the airport.  And, after Katie's nap, she got to hunt Easter eggs in the backyard.  What fun!  

For dinner we played a little refrigerator roulette.  I ended up making a ham and cheese omelet with some bell pepper strips on the side.  Other than having to say goodbye to Ben for a week, this was a wonderful Easter.  

Saturday, 4/23/2011

Ben is leaving tomorrow afternoon for a week long business trip to The Netherlands.  Since we aren't expecting to have much time between when church concludes and when he needs to leave for the airport, we had our big family Easter meal today instead.  My grandparents, brother, niece, and my brother's friend, Adam, joined us at my parent's house for the meal.  My dad baked a delicious ham.  We grilled asparagus tossed in a sherry-bacon vinaigrette.  There was a potato salad, rolls, mashed potatoes, and beets passed around the table too.  For dessert, we had an angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream.  Ben and I had ham, asparagus, strawberries, and whipped cream for our meal.  It was hard to pass on the carb filled potatoes and rolls, but we did it and were quite satisfied.

My mom made these most adorable bunny place cards.  We placed a Reese's peanut butter egg in each one.  That will be the only chocolate I have this weekend.