Fourth of July

We are lucky to be in Omaha which is only a 6-7 hour drive to Missouri where my Grandma lives and also my sister's mother-in-law lives.  Melissa tends to visit her mother-in-law, Jeannie, every summer for a month or two.  So when we found out we were moving to Omaha, Melissa and I planned a long weekend for us to get together at Jeannie's lake house.  Jeannie was so nice to go along with the plan and allow not only my family of 6 to come stay with her but also my brother, Charlie, who is stationed just 300 miles away at Fort Campbell.  So we left at 5 am on the 4th of July so we could make it in time for a fish fry at noon at Jeannie's friend, Marvin's house.  Wow, what an amazing guy.  Pretty much his whole diet consists of what he hunts, fishes, or traps.  I'd sure like it if my grocery budget was as little as his each month.  We had fried fish and fried frog legs.  I had frog legs as a kid so I knew they were good but this was Mario's first time and he loved them.

After the fish fry, we went to visit my Grandma in St. James.  We were able to get a picture of the four of us together for my mom''

After that, we headed out to Jeannie's house.  It was almost a half hour from town.  I normally don't like being so far from a grocery store, but it was very relaxing.  In fact, Melissa and I only went to town once the next couple days because she had something very important to mail.  So I really enjoyed the distance from town and being able to relax while swimming and watching the kids.  It was so nice for the cousins to play and for me to have time to spend with my brother and sister.  We just wish Billy and his family could have been there and also Mom and Dad.  I know that if they weren't on their mission, my parents would have definitely been there too.

We are grateful for Jeannie, Marvin and Melissa's hospitality while we visited. It was so much fun. It was so nice that Mario almost threw away his whole plan to retire in Venice, Florida.  He really wanted to buy one of the empty lots at the lake and build a home. That's how much he enjoyed it.  But in the end, it is so far from church and town.  We could never really live that far out.  But if we were rich, it would make a perfect vacation home.