A Texas July 4th

Three weeks after returning Stateside, we made our way back down to Texas to spend the Fourth. We were hoping to host the Catlin crew at our home for an un-packing weekend, but as our household goods were not due to arrive for another two weeks, we decided to all gather in Bryan. Though it was so much fun to participate in 4th of July festivities in the USA this year, Jon and I were missing our annual "Rock, Flag and Eagle" bash we hosted each year in Sittard. We will always cherish these memories of our US friends and Dutch neighbors coming together to celebrate all things American!

On the morning of the Fourth, we attended a children's parade and festivities at a neighborhood park. Though it was hot, hot, hot, we enjoyed a patriotic morning and fun music with the kids, before spending the afternoon cooling off at the swimming pool. And of course, no July 4th is complete without an awesome fireworks show. That night, we drove out to a great viewing spot of the George Bush Library on the side of the highway, popped the tailgate and were wowed with a spectacular fireworks display that seemed to be shouting, "Welcome back to America, Cathleen and Jon."

Nothing says July 4th like watermelon!

Braxton loved pushing the babies, Conan and Boulan, around the park

Clough Family photo

Boulan and Conan hangin' in a tree

The Catlin gals and boys

Conan's first swim in the pool

Two days later, I celebrated the second anniversary of my 29th year. It was such a treat to be surrounded by my entire family on my birthday as well as some very special friends who drove up from Houston to spend the day with me - the Spencers! It was so much fun to have both our families together even though it was a bit chaotic. We enjoyed a Tex-Mex lunch before hitting up the pool and some much needed catch-up time. I'm so appreciative to them for making the effort to load up the kids and road-trip to Bryan to spend the day with us. We always have a blast with the Spencers and I can't wait for them to visit us in Norman next month!

Birthday lunch at Papa Perez

That night, Jon had arranged a birthday dinner surprise for me at the local Messina Hof winery. Located in the beautiful countryside just outside Bryan, he treated us kids (myself, Laurel, Jason and Mandy) to a fantastic dinner! We discovered we love their gewurtztraminer wine and we're thrilled to find a place to replenish our stock of European gewurtztraminer we shipped over.

The meal, wine, company and setting was absolutely divine, and I'm so grateful to Jon for being so thoughtful to surprise me with this wonderful evening. He really is the best at planning surprises and in the midst of all the craziness happening in our first month back, I'm so impressed he pulled it off. 

An after dinner photo shoot in the vineyard. 

Showing off our wine buys 

After dinner, we enjoyed a night out on the town and were joined by the Polkas who were also in Bryan this weekend. I'm so bummed we don't have any pics of us all together, as it turned out to be quite a memorable night. This was such an incredible weekend filled with lots of fun times with family and reunions with friends. It's still somewhat bizarre knowing that I can see my family so much more often now, and that the "goodbyes" are only for a few weeks at a time instead of several months. We're certainly trying to take advantage of our proximity to Texas as much as possible and are having a blast sharing in these special occasions with those we've missed for so long!