July 4 - The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

    The Fourth of July is our happiest of times. It is when we ALL get together for fun, food, projects, parties, and fireworks. Diana and I started early with our spreadsheet of meals for the two weeks which actually turned in to 19 days. We bought an abundance of meat and groceries for this time together. On June 18 at 11:00 AM Diana and I went to DFW to pick the girls up from Lisa, which was coming from Minnesota. We found a Rosa's opened for lunch. That night at 7:00 PM, we went to Love Field to pick Greg up from Nashville. Friday at noon, Chad and Fitz arrived. Jenna and Jared got to Gunter at 5 and it all began. This year we had seven kids - five years and under. At the house, it was like the old days. We had mattresses on the game room floor and in one of the bedrooms. 

    It was a wonderful 19 days with parties, meals, crafts, and fun times. We had four parties:

1. A Happy Party - this was for all the birthdays we had missed (Rick F., Rick S, Fitz, Mother's Day, and Father's Day)

2. Rick's Retirement Party from TMC. July 2 was his last day to go in full-time.

3. Evan's First Birthday party

4. Isabel's Birthday party

    Diana and I were also the "cruise director" or the "activity director". We did many crafts and projects. Each day we had something planned, including swim time and slime time.

    While the rest of the world was dealing with CoVid, we had a case of chicken pox. Isabel woke up one morning with spots. At first, Greg tried to tell me it was bug bites. In less that 24 hours, I had convinced differently. After calling her doctor's office, it was found that she had missed this one vaccine. Twenty-one days later, Evans broke out in the chicken pox.

    The boys did have a great year of selling fireworks. It was the biggest year ever. They did a private show, Van Alstyne, and Tioga shows. We did not run out this year, and I did get to sell during the shows. To add to the stress, Jenna sold and bought a house during this time. Chad was still unemployed with a few good possibilities coming up, and Tara is going to change jobs very soon.

    With everything going on, it was still "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year."