Smith Family Weekend

Our niece and nephew, Lauryn and Soren, turned five this past week. My dad and Chris came to Minnesota so we could celebrate their birthdays. They arrived at my brother Brian's house on Friday night. Kelsey and I also got to Brian's on Friday. Matt was not with us because he was attending a football clinic in the cities. Friday night we spent most of the night just catching up with each other. We also searched through my mom's old cookbooks to find her paczki (pronounced punch-key) recipe. Paczki are a traditional Polish doughnut. My mom always made them every year for Fat Tuesday before Lent. Then she would invite our family over to eat them. We have tried to keep up with this tradition. Luckily, we found the recipe! The previous years we have used an online recipe because we could not find the cookbook. on Saturday, we celebrated the birthdays, made paczki and went bowling. Matt was able to join us as well. We had not seen my dad and Chris since January 4, so it was so good to just spend time together. When we get together, we always try to plan ahead so we know when we will see each other again. It was amazing how busy everyone's calendars are already. It was exciting to realize the next time we are all together Brian and Molly will have their new baby! Can't wait for Baby Smith to join our crazy family!