4th of July Festivities!

Well every 4th of July we always have a big family get together at my parents house with my mom's side of the family. This year wasn't any different except the drama makers of the family didn't come haha :)

Nathan and I went up mid afternoon Friday while my parents and siblings were out boating and waited for them to get home. We were supposed to wait for them to call but my original plan was to go to the bank and close my account since that bank isn't here in Fort Riley, but that didn't happen lol. My dad took us out to dinner at Hu Hot and that was fun; Nathan really enjoyed it! I've never ever heard him say that anything was too hot or spicy for him ever until then! lol It was funny to me :) After dinner we just had family time. Just hanging out and enjoying one another's company and waited for Joy & Jim and their family to get to town. We were particularly excited to see how Bella would interact with their 13 year old chocolate lab, May. Oh boy was it funny! May was very jealous of Bella and wanted nothing to do with her for most of the weekend; she even stole Bella's rope toy. Joy was so surprised she did that because May hates those kind of toys. Anyway, Bella thought May was just the coolest dog ever and copied her every move lol. Lots of laughs from those two.

I was pretty worn out for the majority of the weekend; I'm still trying to get over this mono business. But I tried to do as much as I could to have fun and help out mom and Joy. Saturday was a loooooong day! The boys got up at 5am to go fishing & of course boys are very loud so I had trouble going back to sleep after that; it didn't really help that Nathan and I slept in the living room on an air mattress either lol Well anyway, most of that day I spent with mom, Rachel, Michaela & Joy. We went to the mall while Adam stayed back with Bella and the young boys, Anthony & Kevin.  I got myself some Proactiv :) I don't know why but ever since I had surgery back in 2007 for my Endometriosis; my acne has been horrid... but this stuff seems to be working wonders, which I'm SO happy about! Saturday night I got a lesson on how to skin and clean fish- SO GROSS!!!! It was just a bloody, smelly mess- ugh! lol.

Sunday we went to church in my home ward which was fun. Nathan & I only stayed for sacrament meeting though; I was feeling pretty worn out and sick from the day before so I slept for most of the day Sunday. It was just a chill day which was much needed after Friday & Saturday.

Monday the boys went out fishing again except this time they took the younger two boys with them as well so it was just the girls at home :) Dinner was fabulous! Lots and lots of delicious BBQ! We had fish that the men caught and hamburgers with a huge fruit selection: pineapple, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and cherries. Avocado salsa and chips- YUMMY! Salad and other stuff that I can't remember at the moment. Then of course, my mom made a double batch of homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream, our 4th of July tradition... mmmm my favorite part! Then we ate ice cream and shot off fireworks. Lots of fun :) :) :) Nathan and I had to leave afterwards though because he had to get up at 4am for work today- yuck but such is the life in the Army lol.

Overall it was a great weekend and when I get photos uploaded to my laptop I'll add them to the post :D