4th of July

Towards the last week of June, I went up to Chicago for a seminar/conference to complete my training. Despite some "minor" delays, I finally arrived in Chicago to get a few hours of blissful sleep before my conference began on Monday morning. yawn!

Lucky for me, I had a good looking dinner date! Chris was able to come up for a couple days, as his schedule happened to work out for a few days off. Additionally, My younger brother, Paul, was able to drive to Chicago from the Urbana-Champaign area !! Look how cute we are (younger brother, and big-sis):

I could not have been happier to see Paul for dinner, and Chris for a few days (as our schedules have been crazy, he left for work when I got back-so it was nice to see him)

Soon after I returned, it was time for the 4th of July! Our "tentative" travel plans were to go out to Leoti for the holiday, but due to Chris' schedule (and me not wanting to drive there all by myself), plans changed. Although, my mother in law did say she was thinking about houlding out 1/2 a cow hostage so that she could see us over the holiday, but I am thankful she did not. We have been enjoying the meat since June when she brought it out to us : ) We look forward to seeing the Laws' in the next few weeks.

So, with Chris out of town, and Theresa galavanting on vacation in Colorado, my mom, Carl, and I hung out with my friend Jourdan and then shot some fireworks off at the house. Here is a picture of Grandpa Benny and I, visiting that afternoon before I went to see the rest of the family:

And here is a picture of me, dressing the baby up for the 4th (see the headband?):

We had a nice time watching the fireworks go off and hanging out. When I got home, it looked like a war zone on my street! There were kiddo's and fireworks EVERYWHERE! The neighbors said that the 4th is ALWAYS a holiday that they spend at home, due to the entire block of families having an ongoing show all night long. I think next July 4th, we will be staying home to watch the festivities : )