Yum Yum!

Jambalaya... yum yum


We recently had a party - a jambalaya party. We invited all of Michael's co-workers and their families to enjoy a fun evening of meeting new friends, playing games outside, and eating yummy jambalaya... in our brand new cast iron pot (which, by the way, is big enough to cook enough food for 100 people). Leave it to me to decide to cook something I've never done before for a party of people I don't really know. Why don't I choose the easy way out and make something I know will deliver? I guess that's just not who I am :)

In the end, dinner was super yummy. I was quite nervous about the whole put-the-rice-in-then-cover-and-don't-touch-it-for-30-minutes thing. It just seemed a little ridiculous to me but it all worked! Everyone enjoyed it and I think this is one of the few times I'll catch Michael stirring dinner :)
(just kidding, babe)

Mom's Day

I was so lucky to spend Mom’s Day in St. Louis with my own mother and both grandmothers. We truly had a very special time with each other. All of us girls (on the Hoener side, at least) spent a beautiful afternoon going from nursery to nursery picking flowers and plants to plant in Grandmother Hoener’s (Coppee) and Aunt Hoener’s (Carolyn) gardens. I enjoyed not only taking pictures of some of the gorgeous flowers but also was able to capture of few fun photos of the family. Here are some of both – there is a fabulous picture at the end of 3 generations of the women on my Mom’s side and a cute picture me, my Mom and Dad. I was really lucky this year to have this time with my family. We had a blast!