INDEPENDANCE DAY 2013!

Had a great 4th of July this year!  The holidays are so hard here all by ourselves.  I know my Mom and Ginger are here, but they don't really interact with us.  Ron doesn't care as much as I do, but after people leave he always says that was fun, I miss having people here.

Amy's daughter and I became friends after Amy passed away and I don't know if you call it friends, since I have known her since she was a little girl.  What I didn't know of her personally I knew her from stories Amy (her mother)  would tell me about her and her family.  I felt like I already knew them all because of Amy's stories.

Now I have gotten to know them all better and they came for the weekend.  Rick Wendy's husband and three of the four kids came to camp out and have a relaxing time.  The oldest daughter is married (Daphne) and even her husband flew in after getting off work on Friday.

Daphne is a ballerina and her husband Eric is helping her with a dance step.  Pretty interesting.
There was plenty of time to rest in the hammock.

We cook on the Bar-B-Que, mostly hotdogs and sausages.  I made potato salad and some great beans.  We had smore's and something they call campfire donuts.  Very good by the way.  and lots of long lingering conversations and lots of looking forward the future. 

Rick is training in Oxnard to go over to Afghanistan in Sept.  He will be there for almost a year.  I sure hope all that war stuff cools down.  I think America need a break from war.  This was the perfect time for all the kids that could come to spend time with their Dad.  They really made the most of it.

They went to Julian and had pie           

 

 

Another day they all went to the beach.  Daphne and Eric live in Arizona so the beach was a big attraction.  They all got wet and sandy and had a great time.

 

 

Two beautiful Sister at the Beach in San Diego.

Bethany and Hanna

Bethany, Daphne, Caleb and Hanna at the beach.

There was plenty of time for tree climbing too!  Caleb climbed the Oak tree that hasn't had any one climbing it in a long, long time.  Fun to watch!

 

I just have to share my favorite family portrait of Amy's family.  I still miss her so much.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of something I need to tell her, or ask her advice on.  She was the kind of friend that you could talk to about anything and know you were loved and understood and never judged.

Most of the time My blog is for my family so they can see what we are doing and what is going on in our lives.  This one is for me.