Mountain Monday with a Smile!

I got up today and after Little Man left for his summer program, I went back down for a nap. Yay for naps, boo for needing one!
Sundays are sooo crazy nuts here in our house, with the kids and the grand kids. I love the chaos of my family around me, and now there are grandchildren, it is even better. Sweet Chaos I guess you could call it.
And there is the problem of what to feed all those people! You would think that the slow cooker would be more used in the winter. It is just too dang hot to heat up the kitchen with the oven, so my large, double slow cooker gets the most use in the summer. It holds six quarts, which translates to a 3.5 lb roast, 2 lbs of carrots and 5 lbs of taties. Add two cups of hot water with two envelopes of gravy mix and one onion soup mix, leave it on all day and taaa daaa, the kids come streaming in the door, saying, "ohhh something smells good!"
I have also been making bbq chicken, which involves dumping the chicken pieces in the crockpot, adding a large bottle of bbq sauce and cooking for hours too. My pot will hold two cut up 4.5 lb chickens, so there are even leftovers. Moist and yummy. I made potato salad to go with the chicken last week.
I always get lots of compliments on the potato salad. And to tell the truth, I am a potato salad purist. No celery, or relish, or olives or any other kooky additives.Potatoes, boiled eggs, mayo, mustard and a smidge of vinegar unless you use my secret ingredient. Now I am sure you are all going, ohh, what is the secret? What makes a really delicious potato salad? Well...,okay, I can't resist begging...My secret ingredient in my potato salad is Zesty Italian salad dressing, along with the usual mayo and mustard. Oh yeah, a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
We have had some rain recently and it did a nice job scrubbing the sky for some lovely pics. Tell me what you think...





And now, for those smiles I promised you.
It has been a wonder and delight to watch my June Bug wake up to the world around her.







Each smile is a treasure and she loved beyond all reason by so many. What a blessing she is and such a nice way to start off a week. Hope your Monday is blessed too.