Holiday Weekends Done Right!

Matt and I were so excited to have this whole Memorial Day weekend off together! We have had a blast deciding what to do (or not do) with our relaxing weekend. Matt started the holiday off right on Friday night when I came home from work around 8pm with a fresh-air summertime dinner at Bistro de Brogli waiting for me:
(please forgive the blurry photo... I was having issues and haven't used the "big" camera in awhile!)

This delicious dinner was a spur-of-the-moment plan by Matt to celebrate my new job (more on that in a minute) and just to say I love you! It included several of my favorite things: gerbera daisies, eating outside, salmon, mashed potatoes, pink lemonade, ella fitzgerald, candles, and twinkly lights! We even danced barefoot in the backyard for a few songs... I know, I know, cheesy romantics are we.
He even had fresh strawberries for strawberry shortcake after the sun went down! Yum!

Saturday morning was lazy... mowing the yard and PBJs for lunch... and we spent the later afternoon hanging out in Matt's Dad's garden with him, picking strawberries and roses, cutting coupons for a big grocery trip, and just hanging out in the gorgeous weather. Later in the evening the family met up at his sister's house to grill out steaks, corn on the cob, and deviled eggs (I could have eaten the whole plate!). Another classic summer meal! We shared baby-on-the-way talk and a great game of cards.

Sunday we actually got up on time for Sunday School before church, which is an accomplishment for us. We love our sleep! But we were well rewarded by seeing friends and hearing a great lesson from a new teacher about how arguments in marriage (and life, usually) are simply anger as a result of us not getting what we want. Also, we learned about honoring God with the motives we have for the things we pray and ask Him for (James 4:1-3). We were definitely glad we went. Then, we blind-sided my brother's family with an offer of lunch, and they came up with the great idea to take lunch as a picnic at the park! So we reinstated our tradition of Sunday afternoons at the park, but this time with family and we tried out Baileywick Park instead of our usual Falls Dam. Such a good idea! It had a great play area just Evan's size:
When did our baby nephew turn into such a brave big boy?
We girls got a chance to sit and talk babies while the boys played on the swings. We had a blast, but the sun got the better of us on this hot, sunny day! Matt and I swung by after the park to pick up our new (to us) crib for the baby... God has blessed us by sending us a barely-used crib in great condition for free from an extended family member! Then we headed out to our neighborhood pool. We had good intentions of grilling some very healthy chicken for dinner, but by the time we sat at the pool for an hour or two and smelled everyone's burgers grilling, we had to cave in! One quick trip to the grocery later, and we grilled our own burgers and turkey dogs on the back porch!

I'm excited that summer is finally here... warm weather, sunny days reading magazines on the back porch, lemonade, grilling out all your meals, longer nights, swimming, and sunshine! Time seems to be flying by, especially with the baby countdown on! Luckily, starting June 2nd, I'll have a bit more time to enjoy it... I'll be leaving Target and starting a new job as an office manager for a dental school! The best part is I'll be working days (no late nights or weekends anymore, hallelujah!) so I'll be home for dinner and be able to spend weekends with Matt. We are still in a waiting period with Matt's job possibilities, so I'm really happy to find a new job that I think will work really well until the baby gets here. After the baby comes, we'll reevaluate and go from there.

It's hard to imagine having such a great weekend and still getting to spend all of tomorrow together too! It's such a wonderful gift from God to spend time with my amazing husband and enjoy how our family dynamic is slowly changing with the approach of the two of us becoming the three of us!