My birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a great one!  When I woke up, we had birthday cupcakes for breakfast and Matt gave me my gift: a new lens for the camera.  Then we went to the movies to see Cowbows and Aliens which was pretty good.  After the movie, it was off to Cheesecake Factory (my birthday coincides with National Cheesecake Day, so we got 1/2 off our chessecakes!).  We then went to JCPenny to get Matt some new clothes, which is an indirect gift for me. So, overall, a great day! 

Here are some pics we took around the house with the new lens...

I took this one, and it's my favorite.

Such a good guard dog

And we see that honey is just a pillow for Beanie

She's conquered the mountain!

Gone Lutheran!

This weekend, Honey and I attended the new member class at the local LCMS church. After about 3 hrs, we completed the class and Honey became a member of the LCMS church! I am going to keep my membership at my home church back in Texas, and the Pastor here was fine with that. Then, on Sunday, Honey and I got to go up for Holy Communion for the first time together.  I wish our family could have been there, but it was still special. And afterwards, we went out to eat at a Japanese steak place - delicious!

Speaking of food, we've also put Pru on a diet. I got this mail-in rebate for a Hill's Weight Loss Science Diet, so we got a starter kit for $25 (after Pet Perks) and sent the rebate in to get it for free! (Man, I have gotten so into coupons!) Anyway, Pru is not digging this diet at all.  And once Honey saw how little food she gets, he felt sorry for her too; but we have to be strong.  Pru is so overweight, it's a health issue now, so we're going to keep her on this diet until she loses a few pounds and can breathe better. Wish us luck!

Happy 4th!

We celebrated the 4th of July with some new friends here in Annapolis. We went over to their house, had a cookout, watched the parade, and saw fireworks. The parade was...interesting.  Just wait until you check these pics out.  But overall, a really nice day, and we were really happy to spend it with some friends.

In the entryway to Sarah's house

Sarah and her two kids on the front porch

At the front of the parade, there were these cute little kids - future sailors!

Yes, that is actually a batman signal on the cop car.  The sheriff's name is Bateman. Apparently, that's funny...

Seriously. We didn't know if we should laugh or shake our heads.

These guys were actually really good.

There was a dog group marching, and this little guy was too cute!

Even Santa showed up...in Hawaiian shorts...

This thing was pretty cool.  They turned this crank to make it read the music and play. 

The weirdest marching band I've ever seen....

Chloe wanted her picture taken with Bugs and Tweety, so I did my best.

This fire truck looked pretty cool. Very old school.

....Yeah.

The kids watching the fireworks from the roof of the garage

All of the people that came to see the fireworks

Sarah, the kids, and their neighbor all watching the fireworks.