Mama and Papa, my birthday and other happenings.

Mama and Papa Have Come for a Visit!!!

It's been a while since I've posted anything. You might be wondering where I've been? Well, my parents came for a visit from Utah and we've been so busy playing, cooking and going out on the town that I haven't had the time to sit down and load pictures and write anything. We've had a great couple of weeks and have made a lot of memories. I've posted some of the pictures we took, but I wish I would've taken more. Umph!
Here's a few of the highlights...

The first Saturday my parents were here, Stuart and Connor had a three on three tournament here in town. I really think they liked having Mama and Papa here to cheer them on. Papa said they were good players, calling them "little scrappers". Stuart had some great games, scoring half of the teams total points. He also did a great job playing defense.
This was Connor's first experience playing basketball in a competitive way and we were all really impressed. Papa said he set a pick like nothing else!

I like these pictures of the kids with Mama and Papa. They all have a great relationship with their Mama and Papa. Oliver and Papa are two peas in a pod; teasing each other all day long!

That night we took my parents to a nice restaurant in Sturgeon Bay for my birthday called Inn at Cedar Crossing. We all enjoyed our meals, as everything is always so delicious! After dinner for dessert we went to Culver's and had some custard, Mama's favorite! We actually made several trips there during the visit!
Mama didn't want her picture taken this night at the Inn because she had some kind of allergic reaction earlier that day, and her eye and surrounding area all swelled up. I promise she was there!

On Sunday the 22nd, it was my birthday. We went to church and then enjoyed a great meal made by Mama. She made pot roast, mashed potatoes, bread and salad with homemade Thousand Island dressing. Yum!!

Then they sang me Happy Birthday and we had cake and Culver's custard, of course!

One of the great traditions my dad does with the kids is to "Call the Magic" into the treasure box. (I've posted an essay my nephew wrote a couple of months ago about this tradition.)
The kids LOVE it and beg him to do it every day!!

Poppy even got in the action and took a sucker from the treasure box! She thought if she hid on the other side of the couch we night not notice! No, NO, NO, POPPY!!

Mama in all her glory...in the kitchen. My kids have told me that I'm a good cook, but only second best! They all think Mama is the best cook ever! I'm OK with this because really, she is the best!

This is poor Mama after spending the whole day in the kitchen last Sunday, making a delicious meal of Feijoada, molho, Mama bread, and Danish Dessert. She was pooped!
(all that I can add is this picture was taken right before "Poo-lates" #2...that's all I'll give away, Mom! :)


Us girls, getting ready to hit the town. It was so fun to take off for the day and go shopping! We went to a garage sell, a jewelery store to get Pandora bracelets and then to TJ Maxx. Fun times!

For my birthday, Dave got me (but I went to pick it out with my mom) a Pandora bracelet. They are like a charm bracelet but instead of jangly, loud charms, they are silver (or gold) beads. My mom and I both fell in love with these! She got one too and bought her a couple of charms for her birthday coming up and for Mothers Day (I guess I won't have to worry about shipping anything out to her, as I stink at this and she always gets her presents too late!) We spent many an hour drooling over the catalog deciding what charms we wanted next. It was funny because one morning I woke up and told her that I had dreamed about Pandora. She started laughing and said she did the same thing!

Another funny thing that happened were these shoes that my mom bought for Chloe at the Garage sell. As many of you know, Chloe has had a fixation of the wizard of Oz and has taken on the identity of Dorthy. My mom saw these shoes and knew that Chloe had to have them. Even though they are 10 sizes too big, it hasn't deterred her from wearing them all over town. She clomped all over Green Bay wearing these things. It brought many a smile to other shoppers faces! Chloe even sleeps in these things. Oliver told her the other day..."Chloe, I have news for you. Those shoes are too big for you!". "NO THEY'RE NOT!!!", she replied!

Going to church wearing the ruby slippers, of course!

On Friday, Dave took the boys to La Crosse so that Stuart could play in another tournament. That left me and Chloe home with my parents. We decided to go out for a bite to eat since we didn't need to cook for the whole gang. I took them to one of my favorite places to eat, Victoria's in Green Bay. It is an Italian Restaurant that puts Olive Garden to shame! I always get the same meal every time I go there, Fucilli Milli Gusti, but my parents order Chicken Parmigiana over a bed of fettuccine. One thing Victoria's is famous for are their portions! When my dad first saw his plate, he said loudly for every one around to hear, "GOOD GOLLY!!" He told the waitress that he'd eaten in restaurants all over the world and he'd never seen portions of that size! They had a huge plate of pasta covered with two enormous breaded chicken breasts.
I've never gone to that restaurant without taking a box home. In fact we all took some home. We ate our dishes for dinner that night, lunch the next day and dinner as well! I'd say we got our money's worth!

We always love when Mama and Papa come! We get them all to ourselves to spoil and love! We are looking forward to the next time we see them this summer in Utah and are looking forward when they can come back to our house when Oliver's gets baptized in November. But until then we'll miss them lots!