Epic Cookout!

We had a cookout this past weekend and there is only one word suitable to describe it...EPIC (thanks, Denise). It was so epic, in fact, that it's going to require two blog post! We had actually planned this little rendezvous for Memorial Day Weekend, but it rained...relentlessly. So we rescheduled. A few days before I started to think that I was nuts for hosting a cookout on the 8th when we were returning home from Minnesota on the 7th and have Hattie's first birthday party scheduled for the 15th, but my friends rallied and pulled through BIG TIME! We provided the meat and buns, I made a chili cheese dip and a dessert. Denise made homemade mac-n-cheese, cobbler and a veggie tray. Mandi brought a Trifle (which was totally gone) a pasta salad and a Banana Poke Cake (for my birthday), Tisha brought pineapple guacamole, chips and stuff for smores, Tracy brought chips and fruit trays, Nicole brought Veggies, Laura brought chips and potato salad, Ellen brought cupcakes for the kids and we seriously had more food than we could have possibly known what to do with. It was awesome! And of course there were a variety of beverages, adult and otherwise!

We set up the cornhole boards and the men started playing while the ladies visited and got the spread ready to go. The kids did AMAZING! You would think there would be lots of fights and tears with 17 kids running around, but they were so good. Near perfect...there were a few incidents but most of them were completely accidental. Seriously, my friends kids are angels.

Mitch fired up the grill and everyone enjoyed all the delicious food and we wasted no time busting into the desserts too. I'm so glad I told Ellen to bring a kid friendly dessert...they went to town on the cupcakes and wiped them out completely. The men even took a break and let the ladies have a chance throwing the bags and playing some cornhole, and our kids were so good we actually got to finish our games. Around 9 it was getting dark so I busted out the utility lights and an extension cord so we could keep playing. It was so much fun! And that Ms. Denise...you can totally tell she is a preschool teacher. She brought sun glasses and glow sticks for all the kids to have and they thought they were pretty cool. Leah was over the moon to have her preschool friends Camryn, Logan and Gretchen here. She kept commenting the next day "I didn't know that Gretchen knew where I lived." I think it was the highlight of her night!

I have to say that we have come a long ways since we moved here two years ago. New Jersey was hard for us. We had amazing neighbors and a small circle of friends out there. A few guys that Mitch worked with and their wives and only two women that I got to know very well. I miss Kathleen and Jenn. But being back in the Midwest has been AMAZING! Very quickly I found my "niche" here and the group of ladies that I spend my time with are the BEST! I love them all and feel so blessed to be surrounded by them. We laugh until we cry, and that feels good. And finally Mitch is feeling really comfortable too. The atmosphere at ADM is much different so finding that good group of friends has been more difficult. But he is getting into his groove hanging out with my girlfriends husbands. It's...well....EPIC!