When They Come Back Home - Courtney!

It was so great to have Courtney fly in for a Fourth of July visit!

We miss having this young lady around more often!

These two were incredibly excited for their big sis to arrive and had been counting down the days!

This mama was pretty darn excited to see her baby girl also!

Courtney brought the boys some VERY LARGE pens with sparkles and a rocket ship inside!

Joe was so excited that Courtney brought him his very own copy of the directory where Courtney works - lots of articles and information that this engineer will enjoy reading!

The next day was the Fourth, so we headed to Benson bright and early for their parade! 

 Rachel met us there (David had to work) and it was so good to see these sisters together!

Love these small town parades!

It was nice and overcast which made for a very pleasant day!

We meet a group of families every year which makes for a great time of fellowship!

After the parade, we walk several blocks to the park for the Fireman's Water Hose Challenge!

There's a big barrel in the middle between the two posts and opposing fire houses 

try to push it to the opposite side.

Of course, the crowd all gets sprayed too!

And then it was back to our good friends, the Camerons, who live close to us.  They host a great Fourth of July cookout.  The older guys played airsoft, the younger ones played 

with water balloons, and we all enjoyed a great potluck meal together!

Here's David with his two good buddies, Jonathan and Azlan.

Yes, these three amigos are the ones who live and breathe airsoft, Axis and Allies, and 

military strategy.........and they think it's great fun!

This is little Miss Danielle.....who wins the award for the messiest participant!

Many of the men gathered in Mr. Cameron's outbuilding to work on one of the other 

families' car who had trouble on their drive out.

Then it was off to the high school to see if the fireworks would be going off.  This is the

 greatest display ever - people sit all over the field and the fire department 

shoots them off at the other end!

They are truly up-close-and-personal!

But......thunder was rumbling and there was lightning in the distance!

As it started to sprinkle, they shot them off in incredible rapid succession - the whole show was like the Grand Finale.  It was the wildest display I have ever seen! Normally, the show takes about an hour, but everything was set off in about 20 minutes!  By the end it was pouring, but nobody cared!

IT WAS WILD!!!!!!

And then before any of us were ready, her visit was over.  She got to have a great visit and 

lunch with Grandpa before her plane left.

Love you so much, Courtney and can't wait for your next visit!