ICYMI, my recap of our Easter Breakfast can be found here!
After our morning ended, we headed to my parents for a cozy, sweet, relaxing afternoon and evening with Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Rich (dad’s brother) and Aunt Nina (mom’s sister) and Uncle Denny. We are all holiday buddies and have a pretty sweet routine going now with all of the apps, cocktails, and chatter on the porch. The ladies have their wine, the guys have their cigars, and we just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk… laugh, talk, laugh, and talk some more… It’s blissful. It’s the quality time together that my heart loves!
It smelled like delicious ham and candied pecans when we walked in… Dad had everything organized in the kitchen with the asparagus on the roasting pan, waiting to go in the oven, to the garnishes for each of his dishes. Mom had prepared the table (her favorite thing to do) and tucked sweet bouquets of daffodils and forsythia from the yard around the house, and our family cross waiting for each of us to tuck a lily into the rocks, a tradition we’ve always done as a family since before I can remember.
She also had her signature deviled eggs waiting for us to enjoy! Easter is not the same without those for the Elsmo side!
Soon after we arrived, so did the rest of the party! Rich and Bon arrived first with candy and flowers for us all, and even brought a bone for Baxter… :) Along with Bonnie’s famous seasonal Rice Krispie treats, which show up to every holiday as you all know… and their signature crab dip that we’ve always had at spring and summer get-togethers on our Cook side. They also brought a yummy potato casserole topped with corn flakes and filled with delicious cheese for dinner…
Aunt Nina and Uncle Denny pulled up just moments later, decked out with their bunny glasses! They brought a fluffy pillowy coconut cake, and comforting corn pudding… And chocolates and baskets of goodies for all of us too of course.
We spent time catching up and having a few cocktails before it was time to sit down at the table for dinner. Tyler showed everyone his new Banjo-lele too. :)
“Get your drinks!” - what dad always says five minutes before it’s time to sit down to dinner. We’ve heard him say it for years so it’s sort of the family joke now lol. :) So once he made the announcement, we went inside to find beautiful cups of fruit at each of our places, with peaches, gooseberries, blueberries, and strawberries.
Dad made his ham of course, with his mustard sauce, and Tyler and I brought a veggie platter with an herb dip and hummus roasted Citrus Carrots with herbs. We also had cucumber salad, asparagus, and a pickle platter…
Hehe, I love seeing everyone’s laugh, especially dad’s with his mustache. :)
Dinner was so fun, and was followed by great conversation about all kinds of things, with dessert, coffee, and more wine, coconut cake (which was amazing, cool whip icing!) and cigars before we all said goodnight and went home to detox from all of the day’s sugar. :)
I love my family!