First annual cheese fest...

When someone mentions cheese, I just think of the plastic orange slimy stuff that comes comes in a little plastic wrap or the massive block we always had in the fridge growing up.  I didn't realize that there was a whole cheese world I was oblivious to for 28 years.  Don't get me wrong, I've always appreciated cheese.  I like it on my sandwich, potatoes, noodles, almost anything and I would be willing to trade almost anything in elementary school for string cheese.  Then we met the Doggetts and my cheese perspective changed forever.  My cheese classification prior to my cheese education at Doggett university consisted of knowing that swiss had holes, cheddar was orange, mozzarella was white and colby jack was like a twisty cone mixture of the two.  I now shudder at my ignorance.  Not only do I instantly go up at least 7 classy points for appreciating fine cheeses but it is ridiculously good. Don't worry, if you are new to cheese world because you don't need to import any thing fancy from France.  Your local Walmart will have a little dairy treasure called "Smoked Gouda" and for $3.48 you can begin your own exciting journey to cheese appreciation:

Anyway, yesterday afternoon the Doggett's invited us over for a cheese and cracker fest. We feasted. I wish somehow you could taste how divine each cheese was. I always thought the wall paper that you could lick in Willy Wonka was such a great idea.  Perhaps that is the future of the computer as well.  Until they figure out the details of such a technologically advanced process, you will need to get your own.

 We tried to play a game but the presence of multiple children impeded the process.

Tara gave me my birthday present in a brown paper package that was literally tied up with strings that had a note that said, "These are a few of my favorite things" and was filled with all my favorite lip gloss, lotion, gum, candy, nail polish, treats, etc. Can we say thoughtful? Hello.  That is what I call pinterest in action. It was So dang nice.  We were also celebrating the fact that the annoying elephant you see in the cheese picture was finally in full functioning operation after weeks of failed attempts:

G had busted out our entire tool kit to try at remove a ball that was stuck and was unable to retrieve it. We feared the new toy from grandma would find its final resting place at goodwill if we could not remove the blocked ball.  This was what we call a toy tragedy.  We were losing hope.

 A few days later when the Doggetts came over, G challenged Casey's manhood and presented him with the elephant challenge. After a good half an hour of unscrewing and attempting different approaches, we thought it was over when he tenaciously took the blue plastic pain home and presented the unclogged elephant at the cheese fest.  It was truly a cause for celebration.