Horray for Virginia! We've been here for a little over a week and we're having a blast! We spent last weekend in Lexington, getting to see a bunch of friends here and there, before heading up Sunday night to get Brad settled in at his quarters in Quantico. While Brad worked, I spent a couple of days with my sister-in-law and nieces and then headed to the Richmond area to see a high school friend. I managed to see some Civil War battlefields along the way that I'd never been to, which was fun.

Friday night, I picked Brad up and it was back to Richmond for some VMI buddy time. Our friends Matt and Kristin hosted a big BBQ party on Saturday and we got so see a bunch of folks. Sunday was also Harry Potter movie day! Lot of fun there!

Saturday was our 6th wedding anniversary and we were happy to spend it together in the same country. Last year, I was in Korea and the year before, Brad was in Iraq. We did our big anniversary festivities last night - we went to a cool French restaurant and then saw Henry IV, part I at the Richmond Shakespeare festival. It was awesome.

Those are pretty much the highlights. I'm back in Lexington for the week and have a ton of friends to see. It's going to be a lot of fun! I'll try to get another update in here soon.

Okay, I have to brag. My handsome and brilliant hubby has had one heck of a morning and it's only 8:30. His Marine promotion went through and he just found out he's now a Staff Sergeant. Besides the obvious boost, he gets paid a little extra - just in time for his active duty time starting next week! He also learned that he'd been recognized by the Command and General Staff College for his writing. He got an award for his article on VMI's history that was published in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography last year. So, yippee for Brad!!!!

And the chaos continues.... we leave for Virginia in a matter of hours! Brad is going on temporary active duty and will be working for the Marine Corps for the remainder of the month. I get to tag along and play with all my old friends while he's working. *grin* So, that means I need to get back to packing. Brad comes home around noon and then we're off. I'll try to blog some while I'm out there, but if you don't hear from me, you'll know why.

I hope everyone had a good 4th! We had a really good day - spent most of it trying to recover from the Texas trip and gearing up for the Virginia one. We had dinner with Sean and Tracie and then drove over to the high school for fireworks. The show was really very good - especially considering the size of the town they live in (they live in a teeny town across the river in MO). We were really near the "guns", so each firework shook the bleachers we were sitting in. The noise woke up the baby and he started freaking out a little. Oops! I'm glad we went this year, b/c I'm sure we'll have a few years of seeing fireworks from a distance so the kids aren't scared by the noise.

I also took a trip to my garden yesterday to see how everything was looking. Holy moly, can I grow vegetables! I picked my green pepper, which was at full size, a couple of grape tomatoes - there are dozens on the plant, but they're not red yet - and two HUGE cucumbers. We took one over to Sean and Tracie's last night and it was SO good. I actually grew something edible! Here are my veggie friends. Remember my first green pepper - the one that was slightly bigger than a dime? And, the one cuke is so thick, I can't get my hand around it!

And, I'm back from round two. I flew in late last night from Texas after a fabulous week with my family and friends. Mom and I did some fun baby shopping and I enjoyed my last quiet grown-up visit to Allen. Next time I'm there, I'll be bringing chaos itself with me.

I also had another baby shower. Mom and Mary Beth threw it for me and what a nice party it was! Several good friends came into town to participate and a few of my mom's friends who I knew well came, so it was a good group. We played silly games, ate sweets and oohed and ahhed over the cute baby gifts I got. I wasn't sure if I was going to get it all home, but I managed to squish most everything into my suitcases. This is going to be one spoiled baby! Most of the party shots didn't turn out, but here is the pretty table and the quilt my mom made for the baby.

Oh, by the way, we decided on a name for the little guy: he'll be Lawson Alexander. Lawson is a name that runs in my family - my great-grandfather, grandfather, uncle and cousin are all Lawsons. Alexander is the family patriarch in Brad's family who came to the US from Poland and most of his family is named after him. Our families are pleased with the respective names and we feel better having it all picked out.