Memorial Day

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I confess.

I gave in.

I'm weak.

I bought Matt a grill.

There's something about food cooked over charcoal and a sexy man flipping burgers that just gets to me.

And thus our Memorial Day adventure began..

A real man reads the instructions so he doesn't have to be nagged by his wife for having to do the same project twice! Good man!

Matt: Woo! No extra parts!

He's very happy with his grill. He named it, "Interrogation Droid".

We had more people show up than we thought. Family, friends, Co-workers, Church goers, the family of our friends, the friends of our friends, etc.

My friend Jennifer came early to help get things ready.

One thing we did, was we put together the new vacuum that my VT's bought me for my birthday. It's red and very, very sexy. I had originally named it Rosie after the maid on the Jetsons, but after seeing how well she cleaned my carpets (and what a dirty girl she was afterward) Matt suggested that Jezebel was a more appropriate title for my most sultry of appliances.

The amount of food we had was just inappropriate.

 Matt grilled hot dogs, burgers, chicken, corn, and even pineapple! I of course made jello, but Matt refused to allow me to make it Utah Mormon style (green jello with carrots). Matt's friend from work, Eddie and his brother brought burger fixings, Jen brought chips and salsa and everyone else brought some form of strawberry dessert! There's still a giant strawberry cake in my fridge!

Which reminds me . . . I haven't eaten breakfast yet.

Matt's parents arrived as well, bringing strawberry shortcake and a new toy for Priya.

A few months back, Matt's Mom brought our nephew Noah over to hang out. He was only four years old and had never met Priya before.

Noah: She won't play with me.
MIL: That's because she doesn't know who you are.
Noah: Hi Priya, my name's Noah. I'm your cousin.

It's one thing to say that your pets are your babies, but to have it confirmed by a 4 year old is quite another. Ever since then, both Priya and Willow have been referred to as "the Grandkids" at our house.

Rachel, my visiting teacher and awesome friend brought her family over, and while her baby enjoyed scarfing down my jello, the rest of the party scarfed down Rachel's cream cheese cake square things.

I have to take a moment to talk about Rachel and sugar.

It's like peanut butter and jelly. Or more like a drug addict and heroine. And she's good at pulling others into her little web of cookie dough and sweets. The amount of cookies Rachel bakes in any given week can actually rival the amount of potatoes I can eat in a given month! She's like my polar opposite when it comes to cooking. I hate baking cookies. I don't even really like sweets. She and Matt are secret soul mates. If they had found one another first, they would have lived happily ever after until they both died from sugar poisoning or diabetes, whichever hit first.

Rachel's husband Eric and I are the counter balance to their sugar high. It makes the world safe.

Rachel's cookies however have become a plague in my house. Once when Matt ate a whole plate by himself I threatened to never have Rachel over again.

Matt: No! You can't take her away now that I've found her and her cookies! By the way, will you call and tell her to make more?

Rachel and I pass notes sometimes in Church to relay information without talking loudly. Matt will lean over and say, "Write, PS: Matt needs cookies."

So it was no surprise that all other men in the house at our BBQ went absolutely crazy when a single plate of cream cheese cake squares landed on the corner of the table. Men I'll remind you, that I've cooked full meals for and watched them drool on my floor in response. One of Matt's best friends, Joe, has had my food for over ten years now. The first few days Matt and I were married, Joe was staying with us and got made from scratch waffles with berry syrup for crying out loud.

Joe: Oh my gosh, these cake squares are the best thing I've ever eaten!
Me: Excuse me?
Joe: Who are you?

Rachel is a cookie Jedi, and I will either learn from her powers, or destroy her.

I feel bad that I didn't get many pictures of everyone else, but seriously once the people started flowing in, the food was being devoured. Matt wouldn't step away from the grill for more than a few minutes, and I couldn't stop going back to the table to try bits and pieces of everything! He has truly found his calling.

He also wore his BBQ apron, but I didn't get a picture of it yesterday. It looks like this though:

I did get a picture of him in his spiffy new shirt though.

The amount of food we ate had me reapplying my lipstick at least three times. In the end, it was useless.

Slowly the guests trickled away. We talked, played games, told jokes and laughed until we cried. It was a good day.

And at the end of the day . . . we still remembered what it was all about as Matt and I took down our new flag.