Valentine's with the family

Today is a day that people normally spend with their sweetie. They hug, and kiss, and celebrate their love with chocolates, teddy bears, chalky sweetheart candies, dozens of roses, and mushy cards.
NOT FOR ME, THOUGH! I got to celebrate the "Day O' Love" with the people I love best, my family. Jess and I had the crew over for dinner and games. We spent a lot of time planning and preparing a meal that was VERY dairy-conscious for Braden, but included some of Curt's favorites since he was in town.
The dinner was a little bit of an adventure, with a few dishes giving us a little bit of trouble. But in the end we were able to pull a good meal off with Rouladen, homemade bread, seven layer salad, peaches & pears, and mashed potatoes. Jess also topped things off with a Skor cake! We had a lot of fun, with tons of laughing and funny antics! Jest check out Kyle helping me with the bread -------------------------------------------->
We had a little bit of an episode where Braden was wheezing, so Kyle took him home to do a treatment really quick. There were a few bumps, with Kyle forgetting the house keys, Curt going to the rescue, and Braden having his first experience of 'using' the outdoors! :) Thankfully, they were able to come back relatively quickly. While we were waiting, though, the girls decided to play a quick game of FIREBALL ISLAND!!!! We started really getting into it, and having a great time. That is, all of us except little Miss Addie. She seemed pretty bored with the whole game. She spent a large portion of the game looking like this
<----------------------------------- Cute girl! Well, the ladies were duking it out, but in the end, Jessie came out victorious. You should have seen us throwing down cards and fireballing each other the whole time! It was pretty darn hilarious. We were standing up and laughing at the very end. After the game and the boys came back, we enjoyed running around with Braden, and playing with Addie. Vanessa found a great new place to hide, and we decided to pack Braden and Adie into the space as well. This is how it turned out ----------------------------------------->
Oh, those kids are so much fun! And Vanessa is fitting right in. Braden has already formed a little bit of an attachment to her, cute boy. He is so fun to have around and enjoy. He's always so polite, and really loves his little sister. It's obvious in how he plays with her, and how he always makes sure she is ok. Those kids are SO great!
All in all, I would say this is the best Valentine's yet! I got to spend it with the best people in the world, the one's that love me best, my family. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!