Fourth of July

I was very happy to be able to spend the 4th of July holiday with a lot of my family this year. It did kind of stink that the 4th was right smack dab in the middle of the week this year, but it was also kind of nice to be able to have a little mini-weekend before finishing out the week, too. Thursday began our busy time of the quarter at work, so it was kind of like the calm before the storm of 10-12 hour work days plus having to work on Saturday. So I guess I'd take having Wednesday off rather than nothing!

Tuesday after work, I headed straight home. I had to leave Trent and Mattie at home because Trent was on duty for work and couldn't leave the area, but I think they had a nice little vacation as well (except that Mattie doesn't particularly like all the fireworks - which were pretty unmerciful to her).

When I got home, I was greeted by my parents and my sister and we made our way over to Grandma and Grandpa Kock's house. My Uncle Dan was there already. Grandma made us a scrumptious meal of hamburgers and hash browns and we all had a fun time solving some number and word puzzles together and chatting. One thing that I love about hanging out with my family and especially my Uncle Dan is you can bet that he'll come up with some really good trivia for us all. The fun of the evening was Grandma getting out these old placemats out that we used to use when we were younger and they each have different things on them like all the Presidents (up to Clinton is all, though), the states, and all the planets (with Pluto still included). Then, Dan was quizzing us on the Presidents and different fun facts about them followed by things such as what states are the New England states, what points of the U.S. are the most Northern, Southern, etc, and what the longest rivers in the U.S. are. We also got to enjoy some of Grandma's Rhubarb Sauce and ice cream before we headed home.

On Wednesday, we slept in until it was time to get ready to head to Manilla for the 4th of July parade and get-together with my mom's side of the family. My parents are owners of the newspaper in Manilla, The Manilla Times, and my mom is the editor/publisher, so they had an entrance in the 4th of July parade. We brought my uncles golf cart to town and covered it in papers and drove it in the parade boasting the slogan, "The Manilla Times, We've Got You Covered." My dad and I drove the golf cart while my mom and one of her employees walked the route handing out fliers with $10 off a new subscription. It was definitely a warm one, but we all made it to the end just fine :)

After the parade, we all gathered at my Aunt Barb and Uncle Pat's to hang out, escape the heat, and have a few bites to eat. My Grandpa Jons' birthday is on the 4th of July, so we celebrated with two different kinds of cake. (You do know that the reason for all the celebrations and fireworks on the 4th every year is because everyone is celebrating with my Grandpa, right?!? Haha!) 

And, as expected, he showed up with his patriotic socks on again this year!

After all the celebrating, it was time for us to all head toward our homes. It was a great 4th of July holiday and it really was nice to have a little break in the middle of the work week to hang out with so many family members!

Here are a few more pictures from the day!

With Grandma and Grandpa

Our family with Grandma and Grandpa

Haha Kellsey :)

The "original" family :)

Grandma and Grandpa with their three daughters.