It's "Chad" Time Again!

My cousin, Chad, and his family stayed with us for a couple of nights and celebrated the Fourth of July with us at my parents' house.  We get together once a year and the kids have a blast. 

This year's activities included:  horse rides, swimming, fishing, water fights, a fishing contest, a firing range and fireworks. It was a lot of fun.  I didn't get a picture of everyone, but my sisters and their families were there, and Heidi even brought her in-laws, Betty and Lee.  My Uncle Denny and Aunt Sandy stayed at my parents' house, and Megan's boyfriend, Zach, came along too.

My brother-in-law, Kevin, brought a semi-automatic rifle and was very patient in teaching everyone about gun safety and how to use it.  Carolyn and I knocked it out of the park!  Hope the guys aren't too jealous of our skills.  Not everyone can be sharp shooters like us. Ha!

It was a great  couple of days, and surprisingly, pretty relaxing.  Now that the little boys are bigger, I don't have to carry them around and keep them away from the pool and the pond.  They can wear their Puddle Jumpers and I can relax a little bit.  They can also go to the bathroom on their own, so it's the first summer gathering in years that we didn't have to tote a diaper bag and help feed anyone.  Ahhh, the little bit of freedom is nice.

Besides catching up with family, it was nice to celebrate my birthday with my twin sister.

My parents were gracious hosts, as always, providing  food and drinks for everyone, and allowing the kids to have fun.  My dad mans the grill and runs around helping kids with tangled fishing lines and getting fish off of the hooks.  My mom keeps plenty busy with keeping up with the food and the dishes.  They get help here and there from everyone, but they do most of it.  I hope to get a pool in a couple of years and maybe one year, we can host for a day and let my parents sit back and relax too.

Regardless of where it is, I love, love, love spending time with family!!  About an hour after Chad and Carolyn left this morning, I heard Jacob's voice coming from the back bedroom where they had stayed.  He was sitting on the bed and I asked him what he was doing.  He reponded, "I'm just waiting for Chad and Carolyn to come back."  It was kind of sad, but also great that he loves them so much.