A Busy Week (and Month)

We are uncharacteristically busy, in a social sense, this month, so I thought I'd share a few photos.

On Independence Day Eve, we had a cookout with some friends who have a daughter from Sarah's province (Jiangxi).  Sienna is a few months younger than Sarah and has a sister, Lillie, who is eight months younger than Sarah (that house is hoppin').  We've seen them a few times, but Sarah was still very shy and spent most of the evening in Don's or my lap, instead of playing with the girls.

On the 4th, we went to a very small parade (not a single horse!) in the town next to ours. 

I turned 48 on the 7th, and we celebrated by taking a drive into the W*sconsin countryside to a farm that serves wood-fired pizzas.  It was a beautiful evening, and the place was surprisingly busy.  The pizza was so-so, and the advertised entertainment (a folk singer) never appeared, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.  Of course, we might have appreciated it more if we didn't live on a farm ourselves!

We returned home to have cake and ice cream. 

Yes, the cake was cut before we blew out the candles. It was actually the remains of the cake I made for Don's birthday in May. Since there's only three of us, and Don's not crazy about baking, I froze it. The "Happy Birthday" was still intact, so I figured it served the purpose. Reduce, reuse, recycle, I say! It actually crossed my mind to try to save it again for Sarah's birthday later this month, but I thought that was a little extreme. :)

Last night, we had dinner at some new friends' house in L* Crosse.  They served grilled pizza, and it was better than Thursday night's!  Sarah was all excited to see their little boy, Emmett, who is 11 months old.  He was more outgoing than the last time we saw him, however, and she was a bit taken aback by his assertiveness.  Sarah is so much like her parents, it's scary.  She likes the idea of socializing, but, when the time comes, she's not so sure.

That was the first week or so of the month.  The excitement builds from here: we're off to another parade this afternoon, my sister and her family arrive for a week's visit tomorrow, and we head to the N*shville area for the reunion of our China travel group on the 20th.  We're all excited, but I know it will be trying at times.  Life's not easy for us introverts!