Family Visit/Todd's Birthday!

Todd's birthday is the 14th, but he was out of town that whole week for his Team Summit, and then my parents and sister were coming to visit us a week later, so we decided to postpone his party until they could come and celebrate with us! Nona, Granddad, and Aunt Hailey drove all day Saturday and got to us about mid-afternoon. Hailey promptly lay down on our bed and took a nap, and Granddad didn't even make it to a bed! :)

It's a really long trip and everyone was really tired, but even though she was worn out, Nona was excited to see the grandbabies!

And she even managed to get a peek at the new little gumper (tooth) in Elizabeth's mouth and help me get a shot!:

Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures this week, but that doesn't mean that we didn't have fun! The day after my family arrived, we held a birthday party for Todd. The Christmas before, he'd given me The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz, so I decided to use this opportunity to crack it and have a simple "Harry Potter" themed party for Todd. I bought him the entire hardback Harry Potter series, plus I pre-ordered the box set of Hogwarts Library books (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard).

I had asked him what, out of the cookbook, he wanted for dinner, and so that night I made him "Warm and Hearty Mulligatawny Soup" and "Chicken and Mushroom Pies" for dinner with my family. Then I set aside the "Perfectly Smooth Raspberry Ice Cream," "Classic Vanilla Ice Cream," and "Creamy, Dreamy Chocolate Gateau" for dessert when everyone else arrived for the party. Everything was very delicious (if I do say so myself!) but the raspberry ice cream and the chocolate gateau were both very time intensive, and I told Todd to savor them both, because I would probably never make them again! Once all of the guests had arrived, Todd opened his presents, and was actually very surprised and pleased with what I got him! (I was surprised that he was surprised, since I'd made no secret out of making his entire dinner out of the Harry Potter cookbook he gave me, but I guess that just means that I'm sneakier than I give myself credit for!)

For a late birthday/early Father's Day gift, my parents gave Todd a little portable propane grill, which he's thrilled about! We packed a picnic lunch and took the grill with us to the park, but just as we started setting everything up, dark clouds rolled in overhead and started sprinkling, so we had to pack everything back up and head home. I thought it was a little cliche, but the rain clouds weren't listening to me. ;) Todd still grilled us some yummy homemade burgers, though!

Finally, as a last hurrah while my family was here, we took them to Cici's Pizza, which is cheap, close by, and yummy. I guess I didn't get any pictures of Evie, but I did get a couple of Elizabeth with ranch dressing all over her face. She likes to swirl baby tomatoes and bites of garlic knots into her ranch. 

We all really had a fun time with my family while they were here, and even though we miss them, we're glad that it won't be too long before we're all together again this summer for my brother's wedding!