2'fer

**Yes, I am playing with templates. You never know what you might find here over the next few days** This past weekend we hosted two parties. One was for J's 11th birthday. All of Steve's family came to help celebrate. Fourteen of us altogether. Steve's mom likes to tell people she has eight grandchildren ranging in ages from 19 years to 2 months. She likes the shock factor. Steve's brother has 4 boys under the age of 5. The youngest is 7 weeks older than Steven. Steven is bigger than his cousin. "That is what happens when two Catholic boys marry two Baptist girls." Haha! She has a good sense of humor. It rained all day. Nothing but wet and muddy. It cleared out and the sun shined just long enough for the kids to sit on the back porch and eat and be messy then the rains came back and washed everything away so the ants wouldn't attack us and carry away the decking. I was praying for better weather on Sunday. The morning was soggy but the afternoon was fabulous! On Sunday afternoon we hosted a cookout for one of Steve's former employees who will be moving his family out to Washington next week to fill a position for Micr0$0ft. Better them than us. Steve has been offered several jobs with Micr0$0ft now but he keeps turning them down because we don't want to relocate. We have found this home and we want to raise our family here. If they ever come to their senses and offer enough money to keep this place and live comfortably out there we may change our minds. :-) Anywho ... Saturday was hambugers and hotdogs with all the fixings. Plus buttercream chocolate birthday cake and Newt Gingrich's pig lickin' good cake. Both delicious. Sunday I cooked 10 whole chickens -20 halves. I split them in half and cooked them on the grill very slowly. They were tender and juicy and delicious. I made potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs and tossed salad. I served potato rolls, iced tea and gallons of lemonaide. For dessert I made banana pudding. Other than 3 halves of chicken, nothing was left over. N.O.T.H.I.N.G. The early birds waiting for the Sunday dinner special. There is nothing like a slow Sunday afternoon with a few tables full of good food and a dozen uber geeks and their wives. Most of them are gamers, which we are not, but all of them are developers which makes for some very interesting table conversation and jokes. Most of which would fly right by most people's heads and they would have no freakin' idea what had just been said. There was even a playmate for Steven. This little baby in the swing was born 8 days after Steven. He is still wearing newborn size diapers. My line backer wears size 2. Unless of course the network administrator said, "I read your emails." Hahahaha! (Oh, yes, they can!) A good day was had by all. Especially this smiley little baby. And what did you do with your weekend?