Greer's Visit and E's Birthday Dinner

Of course it wasn't just Greer who visited, we certainly enjoyed seeing Maura and Mike, but CQ was most interested in his 10 month old cousin.

Dealing with nap schedules of two little ones made getting out on adventures a little more difficult, but we did manage to go on some nice neighborhood walks.  And had lots of play time indoors.  And as we told them, there will be more visits over the years and we need to save some outings for then. :o)

Greer spent time with pets for the first time: our cat Winnie and E's dog Briley.

My parents hosted a birthday dinner for E on Wednesday.  It was amazing - beef tenderloin and all kinds of other yummy food!

And I picked up a Dessert Designs cake for E - sour cream pound cake, just like at our wedding.

Yummy!

We had a great time visiting and reminisced about memorable birthday gifts over the years. (oh, book on manners...)

That's Mark's Dad Jeff and his lady friend Pat on the left below.

Unfortunately the next day Greer got a little bit sick.  She even got to meet Charlie's pediatrician. 

Mike made us some killer grilled cheese sandwiches when we got back from the doctor.

Here she is feeling slightly better the next morning. Actually I think the flash on the camera wasn't helping.

What a cute little family! (plus cutie Charlie!) We are so very glad they came for a visit. 

First few days of our Trip

Charlie all ready to fly!  Several people asked if this was his first trip, but it was actually his third...

There are no non stops to Boston or Providence, Rhode Island so we ended up stopping in DC.

Luckily 3 out of 4 of our flights (the two there and one coming home)  weren't full and we were able to spread out.

Paul picked us up at the airport and we continued our long travel day to Cape Cod (less than two hour drive).  The next day we drove  2+ hours just north of Boston to visit some of Pat's aunts/uncles and cousins.  We stayed with Aunt Mae and Uncle Lee in Dracut, MA.  Their kids are Liz and Brian.  Liz and her husband Mark have two kids - Liam and Molly.  And Brian and his wife Lashanta have Mackenzie and Miles.  All four are adorable and we got to see them all!  You've heard me mention that many of Charlie's clothes are Liam hand me downs - well here is the cutie:

Aunt Mae and Uncle Lee have a crib for when their grandkids are over, so Charlie had a perfect spot to sleep and did wonderfully.  The next morning we lounged around with coffee and Aunt Mae's banana bread.  Then we got to see Aunt Judi and Uncle Hank for a brief visit and were able to see pictures of their new grandbaby, Gracie. 

 Then we headed for a lovely neighborhood walk and then Aunt Mae treated us to a great lunch.  She wanted a picture of us in front of their tree, so I got one too:

From there we headed a short distance to see Aunt Anne in Amesbury.  Charlie loved playing with her granddaughter Serenity's toys! 

Then we drove back to the Cape and settled in for good, since we'd traveled the previous three days. 

Charlie went ahead and took control of the remote.  (this was actually an old, unused one) 

Boys and their electronics - Paul and his new iPhone, Charlie with Kate's old cell phone, and Pat and his laptop:

This bucket was full of toys, but I think Charlie enjoyed playing with it just as much as the toys inside. 

As you can see, it was great to see family on our trip.  So good to be with family anytime, but especially during the holidays.

More posts to come!

Early Christmas Dinner

Since we moved to Nashville we've been getting together with my parents and sister most Sundays for a family dinner. This is always put on by my parents. But since we'll be spending Christmas with Pat's family, Pat and I decided we wanted to host my family for a holiday dinner. Last night Mom, Dad, E, and Mark came to join us for supper. We cooked something new - duck! We had crescent rolls, asparagus roll ups, mashed potatoes, pan seared duck, and blueberry chutney to go on top of the duck. We love duck but had never tried cooking it before. Yesterday morning Pat went on a wild goose chase, or rather, a duck hunt. ha! He ended up with 4 duck breasts.  This is what they looked like after Pat scored them.

And here we are sporting our matching aprons.  These were a Christmas present from my parents a couple years ago. :) 

Here is the duck all cooked.  We saved the excess fat from the pan to use for future cooking.  Duck fat potatoes sound pretty good to me.  Alton Brown calls duck fat culinary gold.  I didn't get a picture of the chutney I mentioned, but it was great.  It was made with 2 cups of brown sugar, some red and white wine vinegar, 4 cups blueberries, 1 lemon juiced, 1 cup minced onion, some freshly grated ginger, and green peppercorns. 

Here we are about to eat on our fine china! (for the first time) 

Here we are after the great meal, before exchanging gifts and having my Mom's chocolate pecan pie. 

It was so nice to have them over for a great meal.  We have a lot to learn as far as hosting meals, but you have to start somewhere and we are learning from the best (my parents and Pat's parents). 

Thanksgiving 2011 continued

Turkey butt!  Since Thanksgiving was a long day, CQ dressed with comfort and cuteness in mind.  ;-)

Uncle John and Charlie

My cousin Caroline's husband Jeremy and my Dad talking bees. 

I dare you to say my cousin Peter III isn't cool.  Yeah, I didn't think you'd try. :)

This was some of the best Thanksgiving weather we'd had in a long time, so we got plenty of outdoor time in.  Shucking oysters, drinking from the keg, visiting, snacking, etc.

 Cousin Susan and her farm grown greens. 

 Coloring Corner (I got in on the action Friday) 

my cousins, Libby and sister Kate

more cousins, Henry and Alexander 

 Libby, Elizabeth, Charlie, Kate

Oh boy!  Finally time for dinner.  My parents (and helpers) put together an amazing meal and fed 28 of us.  1 smoked turkey and 2 fried, the best dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, ambrosia, asparagus, collard greens, cranberry sauce, and more  (like desserts)!

 CHEERS!

On Friday it was a little more of the same.  More eating and hanging out. 

And before some people headed home (some people left Friday, some on Saturday) we got a great group shot:

And this one for our good family friend Dave who is in Afghanistan.  Sign reads: We Miss You Dave!

Rachael and her dad Jeremy (she rivaled Charlie in my number of photos taken over the holiday)

 E and Rachael. 

It was really wonderful to have Pat's parents hang out with my extended family.  Everyone got along great and I'll certainly never forget Charlie's first Thanksgiving.  I am one lucky gal to have such an amazing family, that is for sure!