Things Usually Happen In Threes, Right?

I should clarify: It's not always bad things that happen in threes. The three things that I'm talking about are the three weekends straight we had with company and barbecues and I'm wiped out! Don't think I'm complaining because I'm not in any way. It was all so FUN...but exhausting. I need a good month to recover before going back to entertaining again.

The first weekend, we had my cousin Holli and her family over. As always, it was so good to see them - especially since their new addition to their family will be arriving soon. Aubrey and Jocelyn always love to see my cousin's son so they were bouncing off the walls with excitement when they were here. So fun to watch them run around in the back yard and play ball. I made the mistake of telling Jocelyn he was coming over after nap time. Therefore, there WAS no nap time! (And I sure learned my lesson not to say next time.) Luckily she slept really well that night. :) Also, for all of our outdoor eating needs, John built a lovely picnic table in just a matter of hours. Found plans online, got the supplies and worked away on it. It's really nice and we even have neighbors requesting one to be built for them! Go John!!

{Menu: Burgers, Hot Dogs, Corn on the cob, Baked Beans, Chips, Brownies and Ice Cream.}

* Made these baked beans for the first time! Definitely a "keeper recipe."

The second weekend, we had some really good friends of ours come over. (I used to be her visiting teacher and he's our home teacher who also gave Andrew his baby blessing.) The kids call them Uncle Rick and Aunt Annette. It's really cute. We had a great time eating and chatting together! And the weather couldn't have been nicer! (We have been experiencing a lot of severe thunderstorms here in the past month or so. We lucked out this day and enjoyed the outdoors!)

{Menu: BBQ wings, Ribs, Hot Dogs, Corn on the cob, Pasta salad, Baked Beans, Veggie Sticks, Cherry Dump Cake, and Lemonade.}

The third weekend that we had a barbecue was today. The weather was borderline cooperative so one of John's running buddies and his family, who we had invited over suggested we have it over at their place since they had more room to have it indoors. Another one of his running buddies and his family also joined us. One of the main reasons to have this barbecue was to see them before they moved back to California in the next month or so. Such is the military life. While it's true that I was barbecued out, I was grateful that we all got together. It was fun to finally meet the host's wife. In fact, it was pretty funny. All three of us ladies were inside gabbing away while all three of the guys were out on the deck talking away as well. I held Andrew a majority of the time so I regret to say that I didn't take any group photos. A few of Jocelyn and Aubrey was all I could muster up while I was taking care of my mommy duties. Luckily, we're all getting together one more time before they move and after both families get back from their vacations. So I'll be sure to get some photos then.

{Menu: Burgers, Hot Dogs, Potato Wedges, Baked Beans, and Mud Pie.}

* We received rave reviews on the potato wedges!

{Going...}
{Going...}
{Gone! Until next time...}

And this ends our barbecue fun. At least until July! We love spending time with our friends and look forward to more get togethers soon. Hope you are all enjoying your summer so far. :) And please try the recipes. They're SOOO good!