Back from Bootcamp

Last night Jamie arrived back home from 13 weeks of Marine bootcamp. We suprised him by lighting up his house and throwing a little welcome home party.

Not a cancer walk, Jamie's back!

It seemed like just yesterday we were saying goodbye. It's hard to believe the summer is over!

Jamie was glad to be home. He showed us pictures of his massive drill instructor (seriously, the guy was straight out of the movies), told us stories about the kids who couldn't make it through and most importantly - did a celebratory whisky shot:

I made Jamie some dark chocolate chip cookies and Jarrod had this awesome bumper magnet made for Dana:

Jamie's in town until Tuesday so it's sure to be a week of fun. Especially, with the Apple Festival this weekend. Brandon is running the Kiwanis Apple Stand. Come visit! We've got apples, apple dumplings, candy apples, and even apple pie slushies for sale!

I'm going to study for a bit before bed. I have my first test of the semester tomorrow in Anatomy. Wish me luck!

Murphy Boy Weekend

This past Memorial Day weekend was a blast. Two boys were home visiting from the military and one was enlisting.

Jamie, Joey, Tamra and Brayden

The main event was a picnic on Saturday for Jamie, the Marine-to-be. His parents threw an amazing party in their backyard with tons of delicious food. Check out the cheese dip:

With all these Murphy boys in town, we headed to the Murphysboro sign to take a group shot. Yes, we had to pull over on the shoulder and cross over the ditch. The result was worth it:

Jamie, Seth, Kie, Gavin, Brandon, Jarrod, Joey, Mr. Hall, Brayden

The after-party was held at Brayden's Mom's bar the Da-Nite. We pretty much took over the place. Woodchuck was on draft for $1. Need I say more?

First Cardinals Game of the Season

I'm currently visiting my hometown - McLean, VA. But, I'm still behind on posting so back to Illinois we go... enjoy!
 
On Wednesday night, the Murphy guys and I headed to downtown St. Louis to attend our first Cardinals game of the season. We left town around 4:30pm and stopped at St. Clair Square in Fairview Heights, IL for dinner. Brandon spotted Five Guys and we ate some delicious burgers. We didn't know the chain had made it this far west. This location just opened in September.

The other reason we stopped here was to park and ride the Redbird Express to the stadium. The ticket was $5 for a round-trip. The last time I went to the stadium we parked at the casino and took the subway to the field.

Bumpy ride

We got to the park just in time to hear the national anthem as we passed through the entrance gates at 7pm.

Check out the view from our seats:

My Murphy guys:

Brandon, Jaime, Garrett, Kie, Adam and Jarrod

The Cards won against the Houston Astros 5-1  and we got to see some fireworks!