Family Time & Fireworks!

It has been an eventful weekend to say the least!  It all started on Thursday with a free concert on post.  The Eli Young Band came to visit Ft. Bliss.  We didn’t end up staying too long considering the band took FOREVER to get on stage.  I, however, took the time to take a million pictures of Gracie.  Ok, that may be a little dramatic, so we will go with 999,999 pictures! ha ha!    It was a great evening and we had so much fun.  It is always nice to spend time with my family doing things like this!

Friday I had to work, but Matt and Gracie came to pick me up for a little bit of lunch.  It is always nice to have that little surprise during a rough morning.  After work, we just hung out until it was time for our movie.  Gracie loves going to the movies.  She loves the whole experience.  Well, almost the whole thing.  As soon as the movie is over, it never fails that we have a sea of tears because she is so upset.  Having said all of that, we had quite the experience for Mr. Popper’s Penguin.  We had just got our seats and had prepared for the movie when the fire alarm went off.  I was like you have got to be kidding me.  It is close to 100 degrees outside and now I have to take 2 drinks, candy, and popcorn (Gracie likes to go all out with the food) plus Gracie is scared.  I took a breath and went outside.  We waited for about 45 minutes and then they started handing out vouchers for another visit.  So we decided to take the voucher and go back another day.  The funny thing is every time Gracie talks to someone on the phone or if we run into someone we know, she has to tell them all about it! 

Saturday we went to find some Gracie some jeans for our vacation next month.  We are heading out to see my aunt and uncle in Granby, CO.  Gracie has had a serious growth spurt this summer.  I mean I was still buying her 2T shorts because 3T were too long.  So, I tried on her 3T jeans thinking we were going to be good, yeah, not so much!  She is officially in 4T pants.  The ironic thing is they are actually not that long her!  She is going to be tall and slender that is for sure.  I have to adjust the waist to the smallest setting to get them to stay up but at least they aren’t high waters! She is just growing up so fast! I just can’t get a grip on how time is flying!

Sunday was such a nice day.  We found we a turtle in our entry way!  I haven’t ever seen a turtle in El Paso.  Needless to say we were surprised to see him.  We named him Tommy the Turtle and released him in a nearby park so he can find him a new home. 

Then we had a friend over for lasagna.  One of Matt’s co-workers is having a little girl in September.  I had gone through a lot of Gracie’s stuff and decided to give her all of it, so she came over for lunch and to pick it all up.  Being a military family, you try not to hold on to stuff because you have to move it from place to place.  We are hoping we come down on orders after the new year so I felt it was time to go through it.  I know it is going to a place where it will be used.

The we headed on post for fireworks.  This is the first year we have been at Ft. Bliss that they actually had a 4th of July Celebration.  I know, I was shocked too.  It just didn’t make sense to me either.  Regardless, it was wonderful.  They had the El Paso Orchestra playing patriotic music.  It was beautiful to listen too while Gracie played around in a big open field.  We found a nice open area to set up and relax waiting for the fireworks to start.  I was anxious to see how Gracie would handle the fireworks this year.  She has not been a fan of them the last couple of years.  She actually loved them.  She was completely enthralled with them after her first initial reaction to be scared.  This is my favorite picture of the night!  I loved that she just wanted to lay down next to her Daddy and watch. 

I took all of these while she was just playing around…I really just wanted to play with my camera at night!

All in all, it was a great weekend.  We have just been hanging out in our jammies today.  Actually, Matt and I are still in jammies, Gracie is on her 2nd outfit of the day, her star skirt and matching shirt.  It’s cute that she put that on today!  Look for more pictures soon!