CELEBRATING AMERICA... BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

She's so happy!

Which makes me happy!

We were in Europe on the 4th of July.  So our besties waited to celebrate with us!  And we celebrated America on the 14th of July.  We played games.  We BBQed.  And we shot off fireworks!  We are soooooooo blessed with our DeThortenhausen family!  Kotten Kandy declared that it was "a perfect day!" 

Nine Square with our "family!"

Isn't she cute?!

Playing with sparklers....

Raisin and Jelly Bean

Lovin' our day to celebrate America!

I think he might be up to something?!

We only missed the Lillywhites....  They celebrated America on Independence Day.  My sweet niece, Mariah, made a delicious breakfast for Kiara, Cody, Gary and Shanae.  And she sent pictures!  (Kiara sometimes forgets to send her mother pictures... and it makes me sad.)  I teased Mariah that she forgot to send pictures of herself... so I got a selfie!  She's so wonderful!  I'm blessed to be related to all of these crazy, college kids! 

My beautiful daughter, and handsome son!

Mariah went all out....

Gary and Shanae...

Breakfast was early...

Apparently, Mariah is a morning person!

Isn't she gorgeous?!

I love my talented, beautiful and kind niece!

(Kiara and Cody also did fireworks with their besties: the Blacks.  But, again, she forgot to take pictures.  So she sent me a picture a couple of days later so I could "meet" their friends!)

Cody photo-bombed the picture of the Blacks!

Don't they look like a great couple?

I'm glad my kiddos have good friends!

And I got a couple of bonus pictures from my girl!  Yahoo!

While I was on vacation in Europe, I was able to read 4 novels. So....  Here are my reviews, for those who are interested, read on:

The first book I read, I read in 60 minutes.  Katia read it right after me.  It took her about 50 minutes to read.  The book was called Life on the Refrigerator Door: Notes Between a Mother and Daughter by Alice Kulpers.  This was one of the sadest books I've ever read, but I'm glad I read it.  Katia and I both cried.  The story unfolds as notes are left on the refrigerator by the mother and the high school aged daughter.  It was really amazing that the author could create such wonderful character development by writing notes.  I'd recommend it... IF you want to cry.
My parents recommended the next three books.  They are a series of WWI mystery novels written by Anne Perry.  I read two of her Detective Monk books already, and I really like her writing style.  So I was excited to read these books.

In No Graves As Yet, Anne Perry captures the world before WWI so beautifully that I felt the loss of innocence like it was my own when the war began.  Add to that a gripping multiple murder mystery and I thought the books couldn't be better.  I also really enjoyed the characters these books revolve around: the Reavley family.  I really enjoyed No Graves As Yet... And I couldn't wait to get back to America to start the second book, so my sweet husband got it for me.

Shoulder the Sky is the second book.  This book is approximately 8 months into WWI.  The Reavley's It again follows the Reavley family.  Joseph Reavley, a chaplain and former Cambridge professor, is ministering to the wounded and dying in the thick of trench warfare on the Western Front.  Matthew Reavley, Joseph's younger brother, is a member of England's Secret Intelligence Service.  In this book, they deal with another murder and are still trying to figure out who killed their parents in the first book. Reading these books is great, and I've learned a LOT about WWI in the process!

Angels in the Gloom continues the story of the Reavley family.  Historical fiction has really helped me to understand WWI (which I didn't understand before).  Anne Perry brings such depth to her stories and she hasn't disappointed me yet.  After reading the previous two novels in this series, I knew I had to keep going.  This story takes place 3 years after the first book.  It truly makes war "visible" and terrible.  Throughout the books, we see the toll the war takes on families, etc.  It's hard to read, at times due to the nature of war, but I definitely recommend this book series.  I love the characters.  I love the murder mysteries wove throughout the story of war.
Thanks, mom and dad, for the Anne Perry recommendation!  I'm recommending them to my friends now too!

HOLA, BARCELONA AND MADRID

I LOVED these purple flowers in Barcelona...

I LOVE the girl beside me even more!

Our first day in Barcelona was spent sleeping in... and barely getting out to get food....  We were exhausted from the fast pace of the rest of the trip.  We did enjoy our view from our hotel room.

The unique church 3 blocks from our apartment.

Breakfast was delicious...

And these crazy guys built a glass, soda tower for the gnome.

We went walking to see a few things before the sun set.

This arch was famous for something....

I thought the lamp posts were beautiful and unusual.

Lizards are the cities mascot....

So we got pictures with this unique art.

And this monument was awesome as well!

Who wouldn't want to sit in the trunk of a giant, prehistoric mammoth?!

Mmmmmmm, Ice Cream!

We went to look at the sights the following day: including the famous fighting of the bulls stadium, the beautiful church we could see from our hotel deck and the Olympic Museum.

I love the look of this bizarre church.

The Bull Stadium

My handsome bull!

The stadium was big... and has an interesting history.

The Beatles even performed here once upon a time.

Katia cheered on her imagination at the stadium.

This statue reminds me of Kotten Kandy!

So interesting!

So beautiful!

So breath-taking!

So unique!

Katia and Chris also decided to swim in the Mediterranean Sea...

Lots of statues in Barcelona had fruit in them....

And we finished the evening traveling an hour to see a "castle" that ended up being a gorgeous church. 

I wish we had gotten here sooner... It would have been fun to go inside.

But the sunset from the castle church was absolutely inspiring!

We were laughing so hard at Chris' solution to Katia's hiccups.

This weird statue was at the train station in Madrid.

Yes, it kinda scared me.

If I had a million dollars: I'd have purchased this don Quixote and Sancho statues for my father who introduced me to "The Man of La Mancha."

The following morning, we took a train to Madrid.  We relaxed in the hotel and then headed back to the United States the following morning.  I was so glad to be going home.  I LOVED our amazing experience, but there really is "no place like home!"
The Bettenhausens picked us up at the airport... and I couldn't get enough of these two, cute kids.  Jelly Bean informed me that it was really good that we came home because he "almost forgot all about me."  (Ha Ha Ha!)

with Raisin

Jelly Bean, Raisin and Me

Memories from our trip...

These magnets were my souvenirs.

It's fun to look at the refrigerator and relive our exciting trip!