Happy 4th of July

We had a fun, crazy 4th of July. It's been a little odd, normally I am very into holidays, we make shirts and desserts for the 4th, but this year it kind of snuck up on us. The day before, Pam called and asked what our plans were and I was like um, whatever! So they wanted to come over and we started planning what food we would make, and she wanted to know who all was planning on coming so we would make sure to have enough food. Well, at that point, I hadn't given the day a second thought so I said well, it's just going to be us. David headed to a meat market WAY on the East side of town to find some ribs and got a HUGE brisket and got started on that when he got home from work on Thursday. Then Daniel called and wanted to come spend the day with us, and I was so happy he was able to come out for the day, we happily added one more place at the table.

Then, Alex's kids are both gone, Merissa is still in North Carolina and Tristan is at Disney World with some friends (we're Superman jealous, like Regan says) so of course, he had to come, add one more place to the table.

I was talking to my stepmom Linda and she said Pete was supposed to work, and Jessie and Ashley were going to be alone for the 4th, and we can't have that, so I called her and she said they would come over, and Pete wasn't working that day after all, so set THREE more places at the table!

Then Alex calls on his way over and says he's not alone...he has his girlfriend, is that okay, at this point, what's one more? Add another place to the table!! So as usual, we had a house full, and a great time.

David made the huge brisket, some beef ribs, some type of sausage, Pam brought this awesome smoked mozzarella pasta salad from Whole Foods, and a fruit torte and yummy carrot cake. I made corn salsa rice and boiled potatoes and Pete made his Asian chicken wings again. And as usual, there was plenty of food, and plenty of leftovers!

We sat on the deck, the weather was great, and then we loaded up and went out to Lake Pflugerville to watch the fireworks display there. We didn't get anywhere near the lake, the traffic was pretty bad, and it took us about 30 minutes to make it the 2 miles or so back to the house. Crazy! We got home and had cake and ice cream and Ashley wanted to spend the night, so we had a late, fun night.

The next day, Pete and Jessie came back over and we all went swimming and they came to church with us, and then we went to eat at Pei Wei with Pam and Dave. It's been a relaxing weekend and a fun time with family. I got more trim painted in the kitchen and hung up more cabinet doors, so it's slowly coming back together. I'm hoping to have it finished before the next round of company comes in a couple of weeks!