Easter with the Martins

We had a wonderful time during Easter. 

Our dear friends, the Martin's, came to visit us and share in the joy of our resurrected Lord!

It was an awesome time, with great food and fantastic fellowship.

On Easter, Jack enjoyed eating lots of cheerios and getting lots of girly attention.

The rest of us all chipped in to get dinner ready.  Well, I was working, until I saw a chance to cheese for the camera. 

On a house-love note, how awesome is it that we had six people all working comfortably in one kitchen?  I love my kitchen.

The pork loin.  Eight pounds of oinky goodness, dry-rubbed and ready to be grilled.

Our menu included:

Fluff

Caprese Salad with garlic and red pepper flake infused olive oil

The finished pork loin.  Let me tell you, Handsome Hero worked magic on this meat.  It was To. Die. For.

Sauteed carrots with toasted almonds

We also had homemade cheesecake with a cherry-almond topping, but we forgot to get a picture.

Here is the table.  You'll notice that I finished the bench.  I'll show more pictures when I can tweak it.  The corners need some work.  I took the opportunity to use my grandmother's crystal glasses and the fine china.  I do love some table bling {even though there was no centerpiece.  It completely slipped my mind!}

While the dinner was cooking, Ella monopolized Jeff.  What am I talking about - the whole time Ella monopolized Jeff.  He is, like, totally her BFF.

Here are the lovely Martin girls, sans Alicia, who had to work.  We were very sad not to have her.  These girls were awesome.  I want Ella to grow up like these ladies.

After dinner, Ella went on an Easter egg hunt with eggs hidden by the Martin girls.  Apparently, she thought it was more than 45 degrees.

I had a really cute outfit for her, and an adorable basket for her to carry, but some things are just not important.  I kept telling myself that until I believed it.

After dinner, we took a walk down to the park. 

Jack loved the slide.

Check out his prowess.  What form!

Ella, again, wanted Jeff.

It was a great visit with great friends.  We plan on doing it again, many times. 

It was so sad to see the Martins go, but twenty minutes after they left, I high-tailed it to the airport to pick up my mom!  I'll tell you about that visit next week, probably.