Happy July 4th !! (or 5th)

Unfortunately I was traveling on the actual 4th of July so I could not do a blog entry on that day so today will have to do. This blog will be more lengthy than normal so I apologize up front.

I'm not known as the greatest history buff but I did find this website interesting for some details regarding "Independence Day" that you may not have known.

Links

• Independence Day Story

Our holiday weekend was lots of fun with my side of the family. Kendra and I packed Colby and Tyler in the van Thursday afternoon for our 6 hr. road trip to Lubbock. We had the day off Friday so that gave us a chance to have an extended weekend yet still be able to spend today at our house. I have lots of family in the Lubbock area including my brother, Gary and his family. Gary is married to Toni (congrats again on 12 years) and they have 3 great girls Laura, Hailey and Garyn. They are great nieces and cousins to be around. In addition to the Lubbock crew, my wonderful parents still live in my hometown of Littlefield, TX. That's about 30 minutes away from Lubbock so we got to spend time in both places over the weekend.

On Friday, Kendra and I loaded up the van with our boys and two of our nieces (Hailey and Garyn) to go to Littlefield. My parents are getting a home makeover so it was fun to see their renovated house even though it was not completely finished yet. It looked so great and it's fun to see my parents getting to have new things after all the years of sacrifice. Afterwards, we all drove out to my grandmother's farm which is about 10 miles outside of town in the country. Granny still lives there and has ever since she was married like at 14 ! (They did things differently back then she says!) My aunt Linda and uncle James live out there with her. While we were there, we had Papa (my dad) take us out to the pasture to see the cows and donkeys. This was a real treat for my boys. They watch videos all the time of farmers with animals so now they can associate them with their Papa. My dad has 2 donkeys (watch it with the jokes!!) out there for some reason that I'll never understand. However, it's fun to feed them. Papa drove all his grandkids in his truck so they can all be there when the donkeys come up to the window. Literally, they would stick their donkey faces right inside the truck. Papa feeds them lollipops and peppermints so their breath is minty-fresh!! :) I even took a stab at feeding them from my vehicle. Most interesting feeling to have a donkey eat something right off your hand. Glad I only get to do it once. I got it all on video and it's fun to watch in slow motion to see the big donkey lips !!

For time sake, I'll recap Saturday and Sunday as "family time". We had a great time at my brother's house doing some swimming, playing cards (Nertz is the best!!), and lots of eating. Toni, you did a great job with the spread all weekend. Thanks Mom for the great cookies!! I had a blast playing Nertz with my 3 nieces who had just learned the game this weekend. It's great to see them growing up so fast. The best I think was the entertainment. Laura, Hailey and Garyn like to do alot of entertaining of the family including karoke and skits from time to time. This time, they had an unexpected guest appear in their karoke song. My 3 yr. old son, Tyler, decided they should not be the only ones having that much fun doing hand motions to a song so, OUT OF THE BLUE, he decided to join them. One of those priceless moments that made me thankful that I just happened to be rolling tape on the whole thing !! It was hilarious and made me so proud to see my little boy come out of his shell like that. Extremely cute!

After our long road trip home on Sunday which included arriving in Ft. Worth about the time of their annual fireworks show (which Tyler loved and Colby only saw in his dreams), we had the day at home to ourselves. Did alot around the house and enjoyed a great dinner with my wife while Aunt Moni (my sister-in-law) offered to watch the boys. Now its off to work tomorrow. Too bad I can't declare my own "financial independence" from my job !! HA I'd sign as big as John Hancock did !! :)

(That last line will make more sense if you read that internet article)

God bless you all,

SJ