Happy Mardi Gras

We lived in New Orleans for 4 years and pretty much became Mardi Gras crazies! We loved it and looked forward to it every year.
This year we had a fun dinner with our friends the Hunters. They brought over their Gingerwood house and so we both attempted to make a Mardi Gras houses. The icing was a little thick and it was hard to find good Purple, Green and Yellow Candy, but the beads were a fun addition.

Our menu was:

• Rita's Jambalaya
• Baked Louisiana Sweet Potatoes (you can wrap these in foil like a regular baked potato and then add butter, a little brown sugar and cinnamon.. oh yum!)
• tripled layered jello, grape, lime and lemon
• Red beans and rice
• King Cake ( i couldn't believe it they had it at the grocery store for only $4.99 and it was Great too!)
• Pralines (unfortunately these did not turn out, for some reason the sugar did not dissolve. Do you New Orleans girls use Rita's or Missy recipe?

We had a fun time. Jeff didn't make it home but we saved a little bit of food for him.

Today was our part 2 of Valentines day. We had Annie Kate's party at school and got to pass out Valentines. So I thought I would show you what we made along with some good mail and Valentines we got in the mail last week. I loved opening my mailbox everyday!
A few years ago my friend Sonja gave me the idea of having her kids write something special about each kid in the class on their Valentines. We did it last year for the first time and it was such a fun thing to do. This year we did the same thing but used Thesaurus.com to look up new words for nice, friendly and such. It again was a fun project to do together.
I got the idea for the shovel from Emily and Holly (blog peer pressure sent both your way). I ordered the shovels from I - Party and then tied on these skittle filled plastic hearts With the saying, "What I dig about you!"
Michelle sent a handmade beautiful Valentine that is SO Michelle. She loves black glitter and I loved seeing it on the card. thanks it is really fabulous.
Our Tennessee neighbors sent a group Valentine from the street along with a cute snow photo. Annie Kate was so excited to see everyone, but wished she could have been there. She keeps asking when we are going to come back and visit.
Amanda sent AK this darling April Cornell dress she found at a second hand store awhile back. Even though we had a total white out on Sunday (it is a summer dress) Annie was so excited to wear it
My brother Bevan sent Annie Kate this copy of the Hobbit. I remember my mom reading this to us when we were kids. He wrote a 2 page handwritten letter telling an awesome story of history from where he lives and then gave her a riddle that can only be answered from reading the book. Bevan this was so thoughtful and a wonderful gift.
My mom sent us a Valentines Day package with yummy treats and the girls each $5.00. We called it Mimi Money. Caroline used hers to buy a Cinderella camera at the Disney Store. She took it downtown to the museum and took pretend photos of everything. It was so cute because she would get down on one knee to take the photos and then she would scream SAY CHEESE. Thanks mom!
Amy M. sent this simple yet beautiful Thank you and Valentine...(I can't find the photo of the valentine) She has simple beautiful taste!

one of the ladies I used to visit teach ( i will be on just a writing route now due to distance in my new ward) in my local ward sent me this listing of a few homes in her neighborhood for sale, to give me the plug to be her neighbor. She is an incredible gardener and if I had not been her visiting teacher I would NEVER have gotten to know her so well or if ever. We are really nothing alike except our love for gardens and I was so giddy by her nice good mail. It felt good that we have not been too forgotten yet. All of the homes our about 4 times our price range but if we stayed here, it is where I would want to live and I would love to be her neighbor. Maybe I could afford to rent out her garden shed.
Liam and Asher sent these girls great yummy Valentine's from Krispy Kreme! This is the best idea and I am doing this next year for sure. We used them after our day downtown on Saturday. Thanks so much! I love this idea.
Anna, sent this darling card along with the cookie cutters which have been put to good use yesterday. We need all the spring wishes we can get here. Thanks to one amazing woman, I was trying to find her 100 list because it would blow you away.
Mandy sent this wonderful little package of treasures. Cool ribbon and doodads. I already used the cool chipboard in some good mail. Thank you and yea Montana!
Luke and Elle sent their cousins some awesome Superman tattoos and treats. The other two suckers got eaten before the photo was taken. Thanks guys!

Nice thank you from Carlo who is sporting her new cute Good Mail labels.

My sister in law made these cute Valentine Day cards with my two nieces, Savannah & Ryan. Kari they really turned out so cute!
Amy S. sent me this incredible pink package. With Pink Hot Chocolate, yummy ribbon and this beautiful Anna Griffin Card. Thanks and what a wonderful treat!
My friend Liz sent out her Valentine cards. I look forward to it every year. They don't send Christmas cards and so it makes it such a treat to get it in the mail. Stefanie do you recognize Brenna? My friend Liz is incredibly talented and if you have not seen her Pink Christmas gift take a second to do so, it is pure eye candy!
Pam sent me this handmade card, in fact I don't think every cards he has ever sent me is handmade. along with a bag of pink marshmallows. Thanks so much, my girls loved them and they were great with our Pink Hot Chocolate. (side note if you want to see a darling idea to use these for next Valentines check out Jamie's blog, Mindy's sister-in-law)
This was so nice of Jenny to send me a thank you note for her ribbon winnings. Of course do I even need to say how much I love the card? i think not! love it!
Hanna's Valentine was such a great idea using the scripture from 1Corinthians.
I got this very nice thank you from Jill who is the graphics wizard now.. she is so good with thank you notes.

Amanda S. sent this nice note with a handmade letter plaque of sort that I am using in my scriptures as a book mark.

My mom has the best handwriting and wrote me this sweet thank you note, i loved the photo because I can see her beautiful swirls!