Family, Food and Fun

Hello all, Jake here!

Well, we had a crazy week. We had my family over. From Wyoming came my sister Goldie & my niece Heather. From Montana came my mom Cynthia. They stayed from Monday until Thursday morning. They helped take care of Mason in the day, which was a real help. Even Heather wanted to lend a helping hand so we let her. It is always odd to see a seven-year-old hold a baby. Mason did not seem to mind at all! It was a good visit for a family that hardly sees each other.

Heather and Mason

Speaking of family I hardly ever see, we had my aunt Georgia my cousins Eric, Monique, and Sandy plus their kids and dogs over for a barbeque. We had burgers, chicken, hotdogs, potato salad, pasta salad, etc… It was a lot of fun. The dogs were so friendly and mild, which is a tribute to the proper raising from their owners. Sadly, I don’t have a home that is very interesting for children (No slip n’ slide, no Nerf balls, etc) so they were a bit bored. They made do though. Creating fun from nothing is a child’s specialty after all. I want to thank them for stopping by. You guys are great.

Our patio has never seen so many people!

We met up with my cousin Eric and his family at their home on Wednesday for another barbeque. They have a very nice house and we thank them for hosting. Eric lives about 20 minutes away from me and has for the entire time I have lived here in Boise. I make no excuses for why I have not contacted him in that time but we are in contact now. It had been near to fourteen years since we had last seen each other. This lack of communication is quite common in my family for those who don’t know. There is nothing wrong, no hard feelings and no real reason for it to happen. It is just our family’s way I guess. Regardless, I will make an effort to prevent another 14-year silence.

My mom got out the home movies after the night was winding down and played them on the living room TV. It was like a scene strait out of a movie where the grandma (so proud of her children) breaks out the home movies to show everyone everything late into the evening. Dusty, your vow renewal was the main piece. Just thought you should know.

A highlight of the week was the lasagna bake-off between my mom and sister. Each thought they had the tastier recipe so they baked their respective lasagnas and we had a blind taste test. Goldie’s one by a unanimous decision but I’m not sure that would have been the case if my mom would have remembered to put the mushrooms and olives in hers. Steph and I are the ultimate winners as we have a freezer full of lasagna and have learned how to make it for ourselves.

Lasagna Throwdown: Goldie v. Cynthia

Steph and I down by the river