Memorial Day Picnic in the Park

I have wanted to take the family to Great Falls for quite some time now and so we decided we would go on Monday, which was actual Memorial Day. We stopped by Subway on our way to the park and when we got to the Great Falls entrance, the line to get in was unbelievable. We waited for 30 minutes and had barely moved. Seems everyone else had the same idea.
We decided that Great Falls would have to wait for another day and so we went down the street to a Playground we found that also had picnic tables and we at our sandwiches there and the kids got to play for a bit. It wasn't what I had envisioned, but it worked out and we had fun anyway!That afternoon, we took Jasmine to her violin lesson - she had a good lesson that day thank goodness.

Memorial BBQ at the Zarcones

In true holiday weekend style, Sunday evening we were invited to the Zarcone's Memorial Day BBQ and we went and also took Jan with us. This was his first weekend with us and he must think that all we do is get together and have cookouts. Fine with me - I love it!
The Zarcones had a great spread - we brought cupcakes of course since I was so busy working. They had their moon bounce up for the kids and it was just a great time and the weather was nice also.

Elder's Quorum Memorial Day BBQ

Lorne wanted to have an elder's quorum activity at the house so he decided that a Labor Day BBQ was just the thing. We had a nice turnout and the food was yummy. We set up the Moon bounce for the kids and we chatted and had a lovely time.

Preschool Graduation

My baby is done with preschool after 3 years. I can't believe it. She seems so grown up and in a blink of an eye. Everyone says it goes by fast but you still want to believe you have all the time in the world, that somehow the rules don't apply to you. Yet, they do and on the last day of school, we arrived for Jasmine's preschool graduation.The kids came into the room, sang us a couple of songs and then were called up one by one and Mrs. Markman read to us what they think the child's profession should be when they grow up based on their personalities. They said Jasmine should be a musician, a singer and an actress. Not much of a shocker there.Afterward, we ate cookies and the kids played a little outside. I took a great picture of Marin & Jasmine who will be a year apart in school as Marin has one more year in Preschool. It was also fun that Jan was in town - he has come for the summer to help us out with our kids and be my personal trainer.

Tortas Fritas

There is a tradition in Uruguay that when it rains, we make tortas fritas. These are fried dough cakes that are covered in sugar and they are delicious and remind me of when I was a kid. It was always a special treat when my mom would make them for us and I have wanted to give them a try for a while. It so happened that I got lucky and it was rainy on a day I didn't have to be at work and there wasn't too much to do so I decided it was the perfect afternoon for tortas fritas.
I made the dough and then began to fry them and they turned out perfectly. Even better, everyone loved them and they didn't last long! I can't wait for another rainy, lazy afternoon to make them again. Maybe if you are lucky, you might be visiting and could try some...is your mouth watering yet?

Playing Hooky

It was the end of a very long week and when we woke up Sunday morning, we just couldn't face going to church. We woke up late and we were exhausted because we had been too busy lately. I had been working long hours at the bakery and I needed some quality time with the family. Plus, I didn't feel all that well so Lorne suggested we stay home and spend time together.
A few hours later, we decided that we wanted to do a little day trip together and so we decided we would go to Monticello. Monticello was Thomas Jefferson's house and it was only a couple of hours from us. Jasmine decided she wanted to have a picnic so we thought we might find a place along the way for one.We took our time getting there and consequently, we ended up having our picnic in the car because we didn't have time to find a better spot. We got tickets to take a tour and we headed up the mountain to start our adventure.The property was beautiful and innovative for the time. They wouldn't let us take pictures inside of course but the ones we got of the outside give you an idea of how beautiful it was.During the tour, Jasmine decided she wanted to participate so she asked the tour guide to tell her a story about Jefferson. He indeed had a story for an almost 5 year old. He told her the story about when Jefferson was the President and got a huge wheel of cheese delivered to the White House and it was a most humongous wheel that stayed in the white house for many many years. He told us that it had been written into a children's book (it is a true story by the way) and Jasmine was fascinated by it. We found the book in the gift shop so we bought it for her so she could remember her trip.After the tour, we strolled the gardens and walked down the mountain a bit back to our car. I felt so happy and so relaxed to spend some quality time with my family. I did feel bad that we played hooky but I am sure Heavenly Father understands and it bonded us a little more as a family. It was a most wonderful day.