Family Frenzy!
There’s nothing more important than spending time with family, taking in those moments and memories that will last a lifetime! Rob and I both put a lot of value in attending family functions and spending as much time as we can with them! Coming home from our trip I took one look at the calendar and knew we were going to super busy from April and in to May but I also knew we were going to have so much fun! So here’s a little chronicle of all the events Rob and I have been bouncing to over the past month or so! Buckle in, this is going to be a long one!
The first weekend back from vacation was Easter. My maiden name is Paulson and I come from a very tight knit family. My family (my dad’s side anyway) doesn’t do brunch they do weekends. My husband coined it best that Paulson’s don’t have get togethers, they have events.
My aunt Peg always hosts Easter which involves drinks and appetizers Friday night, a giant family sleep over and waking up Saturday to a big breakfast and a feast for lunch. This year sadly we were missing some of the family due to other events going on but man did we have fun! Friday turned into a late night laugh fest…even grandma made it till one in the morning!
Looking at all these pictures makes me smile, my family is so darn important to me. It was amazing to laugh the night away, no cares in the world. Sharing stories and memories and making new stories and memories that we no doubt will be talking about for years to come.
My mom was in Mexico this year over Easter so instead of having to split the day on Sunday we ended up just spending the entire day at Rob’s parent’s house. Rob and I usually host Easter but with the trip this year it was just too hard to plan. I did make sure that I brought all the eggs for a fun Easter egg hunt for the nieces and nephews…this is my favorite part of Easter, watching them try and hunt down all the eggs that we hide for them. Lots of little giggles and laughter…even more so this year when my brother in-law Dave decided he wanted in on the fun…let’s just say we didn’t take it easy on him and we were hunting for eggs for quite some time that day!
The next weekend was a big one for my sister Sydney and my niece Kelsey…PROM! Kelsey and I had some amazing bonding time the morning of prom when she stopped over at my house and we picked out some fun nail polish from my massive collection and I helped do a make-up look for her that night. It was so fun putting together a goodie bag of beauty products and even better when I got the picture of her all dolled up later that night. She is beautiful inside and out, it made this auntie cry to see her gorgeous niece all dressed up for the dance.
My sister Colie and her husband Andy came home for the big prom event for Sydney and to celebrate a late Easter with my mom and Jon. Colie and I helped Syd get into her dress, lace it up, buckled the shoes and add the last minute finishing touches. She endured a lengthy photo shoot session with the family and then off to grand march we went to watch our baby walk across the stage a beautiful young woman! Proud night for all of us!
The next weekend was my friend Rachel’s 30th birthday party in the cities. I talked about this in an earlier blog but this has been the year of the 30’s and Rachel is one of the last to hit the milestone. We celebrated as any 30 year olds should, getting up early, drinking all day, and in bed by 10pm haha Rachel decided for her party that she wanted to run a 5k in downtown MSP, I was an amazing cheerleader! We then spent the beautifully sunny afternoon downtown bar hopping and soaking in the sun. We finished the night at her house playing yard games and knocking back beers. Such a fun weekend and so glad we could help her ring in the next decade!
We came home and recovered from that wild weekend only to prepare for our nephew Logan’s 1st communion. He looked so cute all dressed up at church! Logan is such a funny kid and so full of energy and life, watching him take this moment so seriously was precious and fun for all of us! After church we headed over to Rob’s sister Kris and Paul’s home for a light lunch and some family time to celebrate the day!
If you’re keeping track we are now into the first weekend of May and the fun isn’t over yet! My grandpa Bill turned 80 on May 1st and my grandma threw him a big 80th birthday party in their hometown on Saturday night. They had a live band, lots of food and of course a bar! I think the entire town came out to help us celebrate this big milestone birthday! My grandma gave me the honor of giving a speech to celebrate the day, it was such an honor to share how much my grandpa means to all of us and how much I love him!
Rob and I sadly could not stay the night like we usually would have as we needed to get home to celebrate my nephew Kaleb’s baptism the next morning. Rob has the amazing honor of being this little stud’s godparent. What a cool moment watching him being baptized into the Christian faith and having my husband up there with Dave and Cassandra, committing to guiding this little guy as he grows up!
This finally leads us to Mother’s day weekend and my mom’s birthday. It’s a tradition that on the Saturday before mother’s day my sis Syd, my mom and myself go garage sailing. We get up early, stopped for breakfast pizza and caffeine at a local gas station and shoppws till we dropped! I look forward to this day every year as it’s so much fun and we always find some treasures! I am so lucky to live close to mom and Syd and that I can always be there for these fun moments!
Mother’s day my sister Colie came home and after church we all went out to Rudy’s for their gigantic mother’s day buffet. We stuffed ourselves silly and then headed back to my mom’s to open gifts and spend a little more time together.
From there we headed to Rob’s parent’s to celebrate with them. Rob was super excited because we made the gift we gave his mom Paula using some scrap wood he found on his parent’s farm! Once again it was a fun day spent with family and a great wrap to several weeks of get-togethers.
We are so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people and we are so grateful for the joy that brings into our lives! It's been a crazy few weeks but I wouldn't trade the chaos for anything!
