Fond Memories of Memorial Day Weekend

Yes, summer is finally here. memorial day always begins the summer season for me no matter where I have lived.

We had a fun and busy weekend. It all started out on Friday night with our annual Father and Sons camp out. We had about 35 people show up for a night of good food and friendship. I slept out under the stars on a cot, then woke up for a great breakfast before I got on with the day.

Annie came to visit this weekend and we had a fantastic time with her. Stanley came ot visit to and he has probably put on 5 lbs since the last time we saw him. He is like a little man.

Sue and I took Annie out to dinner at a relatively new steakhouse named the Anasazi Grill and Art Gallery. Pretty neat place, lots of nice desert photography in an industrial artsy atmosphere. All of the food is cooked at your table using these special stones that were heated to an unfathomable temperature. The food was really good not just quirky. Appetizers and deserts were fondues. We passed on the fondue appetizer but we did indulge in an almond joy type of desert fondue that was really decadent. Brownie bites, grapes, cream puffs, pineapple, strawberries....all ready to be dipped in melted milk chocolate, almonds, and coconut...did I say "decadent". Everyone enjoyed the meal and the company.

Sunday was a typically busy day at church. I was able to get home a little earlier than usual and we grilled some chicken that was marinated in Chiavetta's bbq marinade (all of our Buffalo relatives know exactly what that is and how good it tastes). Then after dinner it was off to Jimmy & Hollie's to celebrate Jimmy's 28th birthday...I cannot believe that my baby boy is 28....Yikes! We all had a nice time visiting, eating cake, and having Gracie and Preston entertain us.

I was up at 4:45am on Monday so I could get some pork shouilders on the smoker. We had a great family and friend bbq later in the day. I love to smoke meat in the Southeastern style of low and slow. The beef brisket went on at 11 am and it was all done by 5:30pm. Jimmy and Hollie came back over along with our great friends and Bishopric members. Unfortuantely, Chris and Alicia couldn't make it because of work and car issues. We had tons of food, corn on the caob wiht chile lime butter, potato salad, and some great deserts. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and the friendship.

Annie had to go back to work and had to leave first thing on Tuesday morning. We loved spending time with her and hated ot see her go. We wish that we could see all of the kids more often, but life goes on.

It really was a great weekend. I know that even though it was extremely busy, I loved every second of it and was able to re-charge my own personal battery.

The only thing missing was the rest of our entire family. We miss all of you and wish that we could be closer, but in all reality that will probably never happen where everyone is together for any length of time. We love and miss our entire family and hope that you had a great memorial day weekend. We also hope that you had time to reflect on the real purpose of the day and remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice that allows us to live freely. We also hope that we have remembered our own family members who have passed away and for all of the great times that we had with them while they were with us. May their memories continue to live on long after they have left this life....until we meet again.

Happy blogging everyone!