Happy 4th of July!!

July 7, 2010

Things have been a wee bit hectic of late as we visited family for the holiday and continue with the home remodeling. 

Our trip to Louisville started out slow as our departure time was delayed by a handyman telling us he would be here at 8:30am and then forgetting to show up.  If you couple that with the fact that Beth could not find her purse or her sunglasses, we started on the road later than we had planned.  Beth assured me that the delay was caused by our Guardian Angel.  Who am I to argue with that?  I am in agreement that God works in mysterious ways and that He has gone out of His way to take care of me and my family, I just wasn't aware that He would hide Beth's sunglasses under the couch to keep us from getting in a car accident.

When we arrived in Louisville, it was my turn to cause a delay as I forgot exactly where the hotel was.  We have stayed there in the past, and I thought I knew where it was; thus, I did not bring the directions.  As it turns out, I was correct about the road it was on, but I approached it from a different direction than I had in the past and made a right turn when I should have made a left turn.  So close.  I did the obligatory man thing of not stopping for directions.  That is until I lost all hope and started seeing signs for Canada as I drove the outskirts of Louisville.  For all you geography majors, Louisville, Ky is nowhere near Canada.

So we stopped at a Starbucks to call my brother for directions to Embassy Suites.  As he texted it back to me, I watched an interaction between two sisters.  Older sister arrived at Starbucks with Grandma.  They waited until younger sister arrived with mom.  Younger sister ran up to older sister and hugged her like they had just been reunited after years apart.  It was a Hallmark moment...until older sister popped younger sister's bra and asked why an 8 year-old was wearing a bra.  The two of them starting yelling at each other and their normal relationship was instantly restored. 

So we found Embassy Suites and had a great stay there this weekend.  It was free due to a bad experience with a noisy air conditioner the last time we stayed there and some good phone work by Beth.  It also turned out to be a great location to watch fireworks on Saturday night. 

Our visit with my brother and sister's families were also quite enjoyable.  My brother, Jamie, has a pool.  It was funny as he gave us some great advice, should we ever get a pool, as to how to best take care of it.  Step one, do not have a pool.  So I will post some pictures of the kids in the pool.  You will not see me in the pool as there was no life guard on duty and I am a safety first kind of guy.

This is my sister, Kay, and my niece, Julia.  Julia has mood swings. 

Happy with mom...

Happy in pool...

And mad at Uncle Jaime for closing gate without asking her permission.

This is a picture of my nephew, Ben, waiting for Julia to come back out the doggie door...for time number 439, 284.

Ben, Julia, and sister Mary enjoying popsicles on the patio.  Mary is showing you her orange eyebrows.

This is my 14 year-old nephew, Joseph, and CJ.  Teenagers love to have their picture taken.

And the best for last.  This is my niece Emily who was born with Ataxia Telangiectasia.  She loves the pool and is as sweet a teenage girl as you would ever want to meet.

A good time was had by all.  We have returned home to resume work and remodeling.  This post has been long enough already that I will spare you remodel news until next time.  If you want to see what some possiblilities for our kitchen are, you can look up QuickStep laminate flooring-style Country, color Oak Colonial.  The counter top possibility is a black pearl Formica.  The guy Beth called to get to come out, told her that Formica also comes in some pretty colors.  I get the feeling he does not like black.  Perhaps, he also does not like to sell Formica.  We will see.