the out-of-towners

We've had our first visitors! My parents got here late Sunday evening and stayed until Thursday morning - a visit that was much needed, much enjoyed and too short for my taste. My family always seems to gather in one room of the house: the kitchen. And when we're not in the kitchen, we're looking for the coolest spot outside to enjoy good conversation. This week was no exception and I'm excited to think that this tradition is carrying over to my house and my table.

We ate and ate and ate. At any given point during the week, there was something marinating, baking, grilling or being reheated. It was glorious. My mom, with her "I'll do anything for anyone" personality, heard me mention an affinity for cream puffs and decided to make a batch. Then she made peanut butter cookies. And my dad made a blueberry cheesecake-like dessert. I'm serious, it was deadly around here. We grilled every night - bratwurst and an assortment of veggies one night, the best burger I've ever had another and ribs (yummm) on the final night. And then I told you about the desserts, right? We spent the mornings drinking coffee in the front porch rocking chairs and we spent the cool evenings on the patio, watching Rudy and his Uncle Jake wrestle around the yard (I think that pic is hilarious, by the way!). My dad planted us a garden - tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, squash, eggplant and canteloupe. All I need are grass-fed cows and a few free-range chickens and I'll have our all-natural diet taken care of right in my backyard. Somehow I don't think the HOA will be too thrilled about the farm animals. We would have had fish, had Andrew and my dad experienced successful fishing trips, but that wasn't in the cards. Maybe next time.

To say this week was perfect would be quite an understatement. I was missing my parents so much it sometimes made my breath catch in my chest - something I wasn't prepared for when we left NC. We only saw them a few times a month when we lived closer, but the thought that I can't be there in 45 minutes is hard to swallow when you've been used that for so many years. I thought about crying when they left on Thursday, but I didn't. Then my dad circled around the block to come back for one more hug and I was almost a goner. Sweetest people alive, I tell you.