Nut Fest Prep- April Gathering

We were all excited to meet at the home of Tom and Holly for our Nut Fest Prep because the host family usually serves up a meal and they are both gourmet cooks!

 Sure enough, we had a wonderful barbeque with delicious meats and side dishes.

Nut Fest is the name of our up-coming family reunion.We have been meeting monthly to plan the week-end.
The main focus of this gathering was to select a t-shirt design that included the crests from each of the four main family names from Mom's family of origin.

What has been unexpectedly wonderful is the fun we have had in gathering to plan! We meet on one Sunday afternoon per month to plan and everyone enjoys seeing their parents, siblings and cousins from Mom and Dad's family.

Brothers...

Cousins by marriage, both expecting!

Grandpa and namesake, the third! That means we had four generations all together!

I just realized that Mom and Dad had great-grandchildren in attendance from three different lines of their family!

The cousins had fun playing outside in the fenced yard. The weather was perfect for spring! Sunny, but not too hot.

Thank you for having us, Tom and Holly. It was a blast!

April Read- Aloud

The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare is a story about a young woman from Barbados who arrives by ship to the doorstep of her Puritan aunt and uncle and their daughters. Culture shock ensues as Kit learns the hard way about the many fears and superstitions of the Puritans in Salem, Mass. She goes on trial for witchcraft because she can swim and she has befriended a lonely woman on the edge of town who is sensible and wise. All turns out well and Kit realizes that she doesn't want to marry a local guy and can't live in such a town anymore.
We thoroughly enjoyed this book!!! It led to olden days adventures for Juby...

Raking...

and writing.

Another Afghan

I finished this afghan for my niece, Cupcake. Her bedroom has these colors and more. I loved that they are so springy! I hope that she enjoys it and that it holds up well over time:)

St George and the Dragon Calzones

For our  April Cooking Club, we chose to honor St. George. The girls started the meeting by having a "Horseless Horseshow" in the front yard. We have found it is always worth taking at least 15 or 20 minutes to let the kids play together to break the ice before we start cooking.

Legend has it that St. George slew a dragon. We found a recipe on Catholic Cuisine that demonstrated Calzones shaped in the form of a dragon. We used pizza dough in pop-up cans, pizza sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella and ricotta cheeses in layers and then rolled up the dough.

 While the calzones cooked, the girls prepared Rice Krispy Treats.

Allison read the children a book about St. George while the kitchen was cleaned up and then we feasted.
The marshmallow treats were cut and served in the shape of a shield and decorated with an icing cross.

April was our last meeting of the Cooking Club for the year.  We had eight meetings total and discussed many saints. We enjoyed a feast cooked up by the children each time. This was a fun and rewarding activity that Allison and I both enjoyed.

Cooper's Rock

The weather was so beautiful that we went out to visit a nearby attraction called Cooper's Rock. This made for a very easy hike through massive rock formations on the top of a mountain.

The guys climbed up this rock face using little hand holds.

Caves and clefts were everywhere.

This is a cool place and what was amazing was how much public land was available to hike on and enjoy.

The huge rocks are everywhere! Many families took advantage of the gorgeous spring weather to spend their Easter afternoon outside in this adventurers' paradise.

The scenic overlook has a pretty design.

Obviously rock is plentiful and the many outbuildings and pavilions are made of it.

 In the common area which included a picnic section and playground, a young man was busy building a grape-vine turtle. he said that last year, he built the grape-vine Grizzly, below.

We got back into the cars and drove about a mile further back on this mountain road and climbed some more rocks, off the trails. So many beautiful woods! All to explore for free!!!!

This was great entertainment and a wonderful way to be outside getting fresh air and exercise all together.

I recommend this natural wonderland to anyone looking for family fun and adventure.

College Town

We attended the Easter Vigil and then left early on the morning of  Easter to visit Jeff and Chelsea at their new home. They have been here for many months but I hadn't found a free weekend to visit between all of our schedules. We solved that problem in a delightful way by making a one day visit that was easy and fun for everybody.

Chelsea took a short break from studying for exams and we shared an  Easter dinner of brown sugar glazed, spiral cut ham. It was delicious!

Brussels Sprouts are my new favorite vegetable. We browned some up in a skillet with olive oil, garlic and onion. These are as good as candy!

It was a pleasure to hang out and to see the many improvements that this happy couple have made on their home.

Jeff installed a super nice projector in his theater room. Wearing special glasses, the family is checking out its 3D capabilities.

Natalie is getting a chance to discuss the details of her upcoming move to this college town with Chelsea in the fabulous screened in porch!

We went for a driving tour around the very hilly town and the college sites.

This impressive brand new building is where Chelsea attends classes.

This college takes its football seriously! This is the stadium which is sold out for home games.

On those weekends, folks in RV's roll in to spend the night and set up elaborate tailgate parties.

The geography of this town, which I had never been to before is remarkable. Hilly is an understatement. Almost every street is very hilly and the buildings and homes are built on the sides of huge steep hills.

This one day visit was a great way to go. We left at 7 am and returned home at 10 pm.There was no need to pack any clothing or inconvenience our hosts to set up sleeping arrangements for 6 people. We will definitely do this again, God willing.

Grey Sky

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.                                                                     Philippians 4:6-7

Luncheon Committee

Putting on a luncheon with a great committee of five other women added a new component to celebrating Apple Blossom this year. Our group met about four times beginning in January to plan a luncheon for 100 people.

We discussed the style of invitation needed which was to be pink and green, the theme colors for the Festival.

I really liked working with my group because they were practical women who would rather save money by putting together something ourselves rather than pay for printing. We met at one of the gals homes to prepare the invites.

                                                
My job was to address them by hand and deliver them to assorted places including the Post Office.

Friday Night Fish Fry

On the First Friday of the month, one of the Men's groups in our church puts on a Fish Fry Fund-Raiser.

For a twenty dollar donation, an entire family can have a delicious fish dinner, baked or fried, with all the fixins'!

I absolutely love cole slaw and will always choose it because everyone makes it a little differently, and all those ways are good!

Dad brought our cousins' family and we showed up to feast together.

What a meal!

This fish fry was part of the Lenten Supper series that our parish hosted for five Fridays in Lent. It was really a treat to be able to have dinner out at the end of a long week and to spend time with our extended family there.