Easter Weekend

It's actually Monday, after Easter and to be truthful I am exhausted!  Totally happy and content but totally exhausted.  It was joy that cannot be measured having Dawn and Jordan and Marissa and all their family here.  We missed having Cara and Jocelyn (and family) but figure they also enjoyed Easter weekend.  We ate and played and enjoyed each other.  We cleaned dishes but mostly allowed the menfolk to do so.  Everyone was so good with my foot problems and even I could figure out I was just plain not able to do any more walking.  Here are some pix of the weekend but in truth, there was not a lot of time to take many pix altho Ken was so good at taking many...and now he'd better share!  I meant to get him to download before he left but by last night I was only able to sit on the couch and kiss all goodbye.  Glad they all made it to their own homes safely.

Along with the April Photo Meme, here is MAIL (3):

This is my MALE looking for MAIL

This is someoneS and something that made me happy (4)  Friday afternoon, Hillary wondered, What shall we do?  I mentioned in another discussion about that time, that I was going to strip off the wallpaper on the one wall in the family room and one day hope to bleach and do a wash on the paneling in hopes of lightening the room.  Next thing I knew my ever hard working daughters, Dawn and Hillary and moved the couch and down came the paper.  They did it so efficiently and cleanly.  Hopefully we will get the wall painted before they next come for a visit...as to the wash on the paneling?  Well, who knows. But already , having the wallpaper gone, makes the room look larger and brighter.  I am so happy.

Tiny (5) is not exactly Robert Joseph but he was the tiniest thing was had here this weekend.  Here's Robert with bunny ears on our way to an Easter Egg Hunt at Lakeview Beach on Saturday.

To be fair, here is my other Tiny Guy....Prince Henry, all tuckered out after the run for the eggs with Faithful Eeyore nestled in for a well deserved nap.

Lunch (8) totally out of sequence for Easter weekend but in sequence for the meme.  Lunch following church on Sunday.  Dawn had an excellent idea to at least begin the meal as a buffet. Now remember, we've been eating for 2.5 days around the tables.  The more casual meals were seated along the long kitchen table. The dinners were around the extended dining room, as they should be.  But there's too much jostling around the diningroom table so we opted to give the buffet a try. We pulled out the table to give the one side more room and we managed quite well.  But here's the very not fancy buffet for our lunch. Some of the things, the smaller items were already on the table.

As you can see, we had turkey and ham and my own made kielbasa (thanx again to Kathy, Lisa and Natalie, and David), funeral potatoes (the name Robert still hates but he actually said the words), green bean casserole, applesauce, Ken's molded cranberry salad, corn, rolls and orange rolls, dessert was a very moist carrot cake as well as sugar cookie bars.  Hank did a great job with a gingersnap crust to the ham.

Shadow (7)  This was easy.  Not only did Baby Rob sport rabbit ears, but so did Miss Lily.

(8) Inside my wallet....Dawn remarked that it must cost a whole lot of money to feed this many people even tho everyone did chip in. But it's those little items that just get used up.  But who counts money when it's family, I ask you?

The rest of pictures now are pictures that I just want to always remember...it was a lovely weekend for me as mom and granny/Robert as dad and papa/bubba.  It was a time to remind ourselves of what is important..and in ways much more effective and lasting that words.  And I was correct. By the time everyone left, all the linens had been laundered, some of the beds remade for the next visitors, vacuuming was done as were the dishes.  So today I rest.  You will see the (9) picture at the end...a YOUNGER ME.  But today I feel very old...when did that happen?

Ken, Con, Henry, Robert, Marissa, Lily, Jordan

                                      My handsome Connor, too old to hunt eggs but there for fun

 Henry awaits the whistle to run for the eggs

 But the egg rattles...what's in it?

                                                                             NHB

Henry and his Mom...can I eat the candy now?

 Con holds Henry, sweet Adelle, very funnyman Evan, Hillary with Lily and Marissa

 For years, no decades, I wanted Jordan to have long hair.  But no, all I got was a shaved head...but he would become McDreamy for Hillary...and I guess that's fair. At least I get to see him in long hair!

 Pretty Dawn (up) and Pretty Marissa (down)

 The Barrett Men

 The Barrett Women

 The Barrett Family

 Dawn and Ken Barrett.

 Robert and I with Dawn...thanx Ken for sharing the pix

 Autumn's Joy

Scarlett's Towel Testimony that He Lives and Loves us!

And lastly (9) a young me for the April Meme...I chose this pix because on Friday night, Hillary brought up all these old albums and we had a lark going through them, telling or retelling stories.  Hillary made a comment that she liked me in this long of hair. So did I but have no patience to let it get that long today.  Besides at 63, and fully silvered...I'd look like hag with such long hair today.