Memorial Day

A couple months ago I thought it would be neat to spotlight and do a "ancestor dinner" sometime during the year.  I played around with different ideas like doing it on their birthday, anniversary, etc. but then thought it would be a great idea to do it every Memorial Day.  I realize that the purpose of Memorial Day is to remember those that have given their lives to serve and protect our country and I am so grateful for them and their families.  But I also thought that this was a fitting and a little more personal way of making the day special for us - by remembering all that those in our family have done to pave the way for us and help mold us to who we are now.  I really like the idea and am so excited to continue to do it in the future.  

So this year we decided to start with Mark's Grandpa and Grandma Berning.  I never got to know Grandpa and Grandma Esther passed away just a month after Mark and I got married so I didn't get a chance to have a lot of time with her.  So it was great to have a night to remember them.  

One of the things I wanted to include in this tradition is to make a meal that reminds us of them or is where they are from.  Mark's grandparents lived in Mexico and loved that culture and so he suggested to do a Mexican theme.  And one of the things he remembered most was going down and getting carnitas with them in town.  I have never even had carnitas before but I found a recipe and centered everything else around that.  I had a blast planning out the menu!

I don't really consider myself a "foodie" person - I am not one to take pictures when a meal turns out great!  But we figured this was part of the tradition so here was our spread to remember Grandpa Berning and Grandma Esther.  

We had carnitas with mango pico de gallo and guacamole, lime-cilantro rice with black beans, queso verde with tortilla chips and mint limeade to drink.  And to top it all off we had baked cinnamon chips for a topper!  

It was oh so good. 

While we ate Mark told us some stories about Grandpa Berning and Grandma Esther.  He remembers how they would come up to Idaho and visit once a year and would bring Mexican cookies.  Grandpa liked to play cards and taught the older boys how to play cribbage.  And they would go and visit them down in Mexico and Grandpa would be sitting in his chair and he always had someone sitting there talking next to him.  Mark was able to help take care of Grandma Esther for awhile when she got older and described her as very optimistic and willing to take whatever life gave her.  

One story that Mark remembers about his Grandpa Berning was one time when they were going down to their house in Mexico from California.  It just happened to be while they were filming Titanic in Tijuana and some limos flew passed them on the highway and when they got off their exit the same limos were blocking the way.  Grandpa Berning started yelling at them to let them pass and Leonardo DiCaprio got out and then they waved them by. 

It's so funny the things we remember and we are excited to be able to reflect back and share stories with our kiddos throughout the upcoming years.  

We love you Grandpa and Grandma Berning!