Easter Sunday

Yes. Easter was 20 days ago. I've been so busy lately - with work, work, and work. Oh and then there is that little thing that I participated in called "The Wedding of the CENTURY". So, as of April 24th, I am somewhat caught up, recuperated and organized again... and will be catching you up on the festivities this week.

And yes, that is a threat.

Easter was my first day of vacation. I needed an entire week to prepare for the upcoming wedding on the 10th. I needed to whiten my teeth, have my grays covered, get 20 layers of old skin scrubbed off my face, shave, and make 50 bacon wrapped jalapeno bites.

It is hard work maintaining my appearance. And my waistline.

Which is why I don't do it very often.

So, Easter started out with church. And then we were all invited over to the Settles' homestead for a DELICIOUS Easter lunch.

And now... let me introduce you to one of my new favorite people...



Randy. My sister Shannon is his lady friend. And we are thrilled to have him as part of our family! Not only is he kind, hilarious, generous, and talented.... he can cook meat like no other. Any one who knows their way around a grill is immediately my new best friend. If he invites me to a fish fry - he will be my friend for life.

Oh... and he also makes my sister SO happy. But that is not as high on my list of "reasons I like a guy" as roasted melt-in-your-mouth beef tenderloin.

I've got priorities. Don't judge me.

Here is my sis and her sweet family.....

This was my first time seeing Shannon's new home. It is perfect. Lots of land. Lots of seclusion. Lots of love.

And so I planned on taking LOTS of pictures. As I always PLAN on doing. And then I seem to get so wrapped up in the food, telling jokes, eating, catching up with family, and going back for seconds... that I never seem to capture anything but bizarre random shots that won't mean a thing to me when I get "old-timers".

(Old timers is when you pretend you don't remember much so you don't have to talk to people, eat lots of soft foods, and have your niece wait on you hand and foot)

(Actually - that sounds pretty good some days - especially if the "soft food" is vanilla ice cream with peanut butter on top)

( Oh - and don't worry about who is going to take care of my sister when she gets "old-timers" because she was generous enough to have MANY children so those of us that are child-free can be taken care of as well- there is plenty to go around)

The point that I'm trying to make here is that: My Mom saved the day when it comes to pictures. She captured a lot of great moments during the week that I was too preoccupied with myself to take.

Like this one....



(Actually I took that one - on my Mom's camera)

And this one.....

We look like an Easter bunch if I do say so myself. I finally got Kev in a pink shirt. And then there is an obnoxiously HUGE accessory that I had to put on - to ensure I would be noticed.

My earrings.

Oh - you thought I was talking about the giant orange flower. I do not consider that an accessory - but a weapon. It squirts poison on my enemies. And it will be seen again before the week is through.

And now for MY pictures. The ones that highlighted the important moments....

A random shot of people talking on the porch. It seems Laura was trained well. To always be in a dainty lady-like pose in the chance that a picture would be taken. And Kev - well he is either about to drop in the splits or is sleeping like a horse.

But I had to move closer. To figure out what was going on....

I still think Kev might be sleeping. ?? Apparently, Easter Sunday is hard work.

I did manage to get some cute shots of the boys - with their new guinea pig, Bailey.

And a toothless grin from Mason....

But then I went back to randomness. The last picture I took of the day was this....

People dishing up their plates.

It is a hard life keeping up with a blog. Taking relevant pictures. Thinking of stories. Eating snacks to keep my energy up while typing.

It's a tough job - but some one has to do it.

( It also gives me an excuse to not clean or shower on my days off - "I'm too busy blogging". Kev accepts that better than " I got stuck to the couch and decided to catch up on my shows")

(It this post cohesive? - because it seems a little random to me. )

( If I put any more statements in parenthesis - some one might need to call the punctuation police)

( I'm not sure if there is such a thing as the punctuation police... but your middle school English teacher should do just fine)

Anyway... Easter was wonderful. Incredible weather. Wonderful people. Delicious food.

And I made a jalapeno/pepper jack mac n cheese as my contribution. It was YUM-MY!! I will definitely make it again. It seems hot peppers have become my signature dish. Which is fine by me. I would marry a hot pepper if I could.

But I can't because then I would be arrested for being a bigamist. And I would have to move to Utah.

I hope you enjoyed this "Ride of Randomness". Now please exit to your right. Calmly. And enjoy the rest of your day.