Weekend with the Larmers

Back in May, we made plans with Scott and Ashley to get together for a visit. Due to their crazy schedules and our summer calendar, we couldn’t find an available weekend until August.

We quickly reserved this past weekend for a Cumming visit with the Larmers. Due to some work conflicts, they couldn’t get in until Saturday, which turned out to be for the best. Saturday morning was filled with Jackson and Wesley going to a birthday party at Build A Bear and Philip and I heading to Publix for the weekend run.

I think someone enjoyed having the Publix cart to himself!

They arrived in time for lunch and we made BLTs from the last of the yummy tomatoes from my garden. After mealtime, we put the boys down and talked. Well, Ashley, Scott and I talked. Wesley just played with the toys they brought with them – an Ipad and Kindle.

After naps, we ventured out to run a few errands. What was to be a quick trip to Target ended up taking awhile as Scott, Jackson and Wesley found a few more toys to play with!

That night, after the boys were fed and put to bed, we started on our dinner. I had already made the main dish and just had to put a few finishing touches on the extras. I think the menu turned out nice and was delicious! Nothing left over – isn’t that a good sign of a great dinner?

Thanks to Scott for taking some awesome shots of our dinner table:

Caesar salad with homemade croutons!

Chicken Spaghetti (Pioneer Woman Cookbook) and bruschetta (made with our tomatoes - don't they look fabulous!)

After dinner, while Wesley & Scott looked on (and continued to play with the Ipad), Ashley and I started to work on Sunday’s lunch. We invited the Ott family over for lunch to celebrate Shannon’s 30^th birthday.

I love to cook and love it even more when I have someone to cook with. Thankfully, Ashley and Scott love to cook as much as I do and we had so much fun talking about new recipes, ingredients, and places to eat as we prepared for Sunday.

Scott had worked up a theme and menu for us. Using his recipes and the Pioneer Woman cookbook, we put together an impressive spread for a Sunday feast!

After church, we came back and got everything ready for lunch. The Otts (minus John) arrived around noon, and we enjoyed spending time talking and reconnecting.

I forgot to take pictures before we devoured the brunch. Thankfully, we had a little extra so I could snap a few shots of our fabulous meal:

Praline French Toast

Sausage Egg Casserole

Garlic Cheese Grits

Blueberry Muffins

For dessert, we made Shannon her favorite - a chocolate cake and

homemade Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.

All I could find for a candle was Jackson's #2 from last year. The kids wanted to see Shannon blow out something so she was a sport and played along. Happy birthday, Shannon!

David and Jackson really enjoyed singing Happy Birthday and watching Shannon blow out the candle.

The Otts - Grace, Shannon, David, and Josh (standing)

David, Jackson and Josh

I can't begin to describe how well these three got along! Wesley had a huge talk with Jackson before they arrived about playing nice and sharing. Either the talk did it, or else they are just meant to be great friends, because they played together beautifully!! No fighting, yelling or tears! Shannon and I agreed we must get together again soon because it was actually an enjoyable playgroup for the kids and adults!

After the birthday celebration, the Otts headed their way, and soon after, Scott and Ashley left too. It made for a very quiet house Sunday a

fternoon!

We loved having Scott and Ashley with us. There is something special about sharing time with those you love the most in the comfort of your own home. Also, there was something special heart-warming about seeing my boys interact with Ashley and Scott.

The Larmers and Benders (minus a sleeping Philip)

I had to include this picture to show how close Scott and Jackson became over the weekend. It usually takes awhile for Jackson to warm up to new faces. Though Scott and Ashley are not new to Wesley and me, Jackson has only been around them a handful of times. Even so, Jackson and Scott became fast buddies.

The bonding started when Jackson learned that Scott can talk to stuffed animals. He would communicate with this puppy dog and the dog would talk back! Jackson loved it!

It warmed my heart, when I received an e-mail from Scott Monday morning:

fyi, i miss playing with jackson.

i would much rather do puppy voiceover work than legal work.

I guess the admiration was mutual!

Thank you Scott and Ashley for loving on our kids and for a great weekend! We can't wait to do it again soon!