Firecrackers and Birthday Candles

My vacation has flown by! I'm back to work tomorrow. I'm ready to get back into a routine and back in the habit of exercising more regularly. Being on vacation was bad for the walking routine.

We celebrated the 4th at Marcia and Steve's house, as always. Marcia has been my mom's friend since junior high school, so our families have always celebrated together throughout the years. They put on a fantastic fireworks display and have tons of yummy food. (This may be a problem at my weigh-in tomorrow, but it was all soooo good!) I made a new recipe that was quite the hit. I decided to use some of the blueberries we picked a few weeks ago. Here it is:

Blueberry Pretzel Salad

2 cups of crushed roughly crushed pretzel crumbs

3/4 cup melted butter

3 Tbs sugar

Mix together and press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Cool completely.

In a large pot, place:

4 cups blueberries

1/4 cup water

Bring to a boil and add:

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbs cornstarch

Boil, stirring frequently until sugar is dissolved and mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat and cool completely.

In a mixing bowl mix:

8oz softened cream cheese

1 cup sugar

8 oz carton of Cool Whip

When crust and blueberries are completely cool, top crust with with cream cheese mixture , then blueberries. Chill until served.

On Saturday we took my Grandma out to eat for her birthday at lunch, then went to Greg's parents' for a BBQ with his brother and nephew. Carson and Andrew had a blast soaking each other and everything in their path with water balloons.

Today we went to church, then hung out at home. Carson played in the pool and sprinkler with the girls next door and outside most of the day. Greg mowed and I did some laundry and watched some TV.

Here are some pictures from our weekend. This week we actually don't have anything on the calendar, other than my usual Weight Watchers and aerobics. Next weekend we have a family wedding shower on Saturday and a Campaign '08 houseparty at some friends' house on Sunday. Should be another fun weekend!