Mother's Day minus Mom

This Mother's Day we were in the middle of our East Coast trip, staying at my Aunt Jeanne & Uncle Dave's house. They were gracious enough to not only welcome us as guests for 4 nights, but also to throw a family get-together so we could see all the other relatives without driving through the entire state of New Jersey! After we got the house/snacks ready that morning, Jeanne kicked us out ;) to go visit the nearest IKEA - our first visit to this amazing store was incredible! Way to go Sweden! As we walked briskly (only having an hour) through as much of the store as we could, my jaw dropped time and time again! Sigh... I sure wish we had one of these in NM!

Here are some of the snacks we enjoyed that weekend...

a fried dish that I cannot spell nor pronounce correctly

 

 

grilled chicken satay w/peanut sauce

Sunday afternoon, the relatives started arriving! J&I figured out that the last time we saw most of these family members was at our wedding - 2 1/2 years ago! But even then, we were a little preoccupied and didn't get to visit much with them individually. My mom was born in Buffalo, NY and raised mainly on the East Coast. Her 3 sisters and 1 brother still live in the NJ/NY/PA area. Ironically, we spent Mother's Day afternoon hanging out with all of my mom's side of the family... minus my mom. (I did call her & send a card though!) ;)

Aunt Carol (wisest & therefore oldest ;)

 

 

Rona

Uncle Bill

Aunt Barbara, Uncle Rick, & Andrea

Uncle Dave L

Dave's right eye

I am very ashamed to say that I found my final set of photos missing the primary hostess from this event! I'm sorry Aunt Jeanne!!!!

Haley & Emily L

Their dog, Hazel

Jennifer (Dave's sister)

 & Doug (+ their 2 boys)

We had a great time with everyone... ate lots of good food, enjoyed custom made earrings (courtesy of Emily), and laughed a lot! I love my family!!!