MIL's, Hills, Pills, Thrills, Nils

Happy 5th of July! Hope all of you had a spectacular Independence Day!

MIL's: We came to MIL's (that's cyber talk for Mother In Law's---in case you wondered!) on Thursday night. Thankfully it was not as eventful as the last time we came here (no fires!).

Hills: If you've never been to this part of Texas, the "Hill Country" is a really pretty area. I often wonder what people think of when they hear "Texas" and they live somewhere far, far away from here. Do they picture all of us on horses with flatlands everywhere? Or oil wells just waiting to be used again? Or....or....or....WHAT??? THIS part of Texas has rolling hills surrounding rivers and lakes. It's a summer vacationer's paradise. Phil's folks bought this property many years ago before they ever were close to building on it. It's on Lake LBJ (yes, named after the president). This is a constant level lake so there's never fear of flooding. Also, it means that in the driest of summers there will be water in this lake! Around the lakes are hillsides dotted with homes, wildflowers, and deer. LOTS and LOTS of deer! The roads are a motorcycle rider's dream come true (and his wife's worst nightmare---LOL!). Phil did ride up on his motorcycle, but hasn't gone out riding yet. I imagine tomorrow he will take a LONG ride home!

Pills: Last week on June 26th, in honor of my brother's birthday (oops, I STILL haven't told him Happy Birthday!), Natalie & I went to the doctor and discovered we had throat infections. We seemed to improve, then this past Tuesday night I felt like I had the flu. My throat has been sore, I had body aches & fever, and really wanted to be knocked out & lying in a hospital bed so I could rest. I was SO sick. I called the doctor and he really believes that this is a virus on top of the bacterial infection. He said with the strong antibiotic that I am on there couldn't be a secondary infection. But, he said if I'm not better by Monday to call. I can tell I'm getting better. My throat still hurts some, but not like it did before. One of our little neighbor girls has strep throat. Strep always scares me because my mom's dad died of rheumatic fever that started as a strep infection. Apparently her fear of strep has been passed down to me! Hopefully by Monday I'll be feeling quite chipper.

Thrills: We got to see fireworks last night, but not as thrilling as we'd hoped. You see, MIL was sure that one place was going to have them, and that we could see them from her area clubhouse. So, we drove down there, even moved the benches around so we could watch. Then waited, and waited, and waited. We heard the fireworks in Marble Falls going off, but still nothing where we were. Natalie & I walked out to see if we could see the ones that WERE going off, and the others finally joined us so we could drive & really see them. We missed about half of them, thus it was not as exciting as it could have been. Still, it is fun to watch. It's hard to believe that as beautiful as they are, they represent the bombs that were used to fight for this country's freedom, and those who gave their lives so we could live in the Land of Liberty.

Nils: Okay, Nils has absolutely nothing to do with the 4th of July. He is, however, my nephew...hmmm, in Yankee Doodle Dandy it mentions a nephew...will that do? Actually, when I started thinking about us coming up here, I was driving through the hills to get to MIL's. It made me think of what we used to say to people to get them to pronounce Nils' name correctly. He's named after my Swedish great-grandfather Nils August Berggren. His name is actually Steven Nils, after my brother Steven who died at 17. He was born not that long after Steve's death, so his parents decided to call him Nils. Yes, Nils. Like hills, thrills, pills---NILS! It isn't Neil, Niles, Nile, Nels or Nil. It isn't pronounced kneels. It's Nils. Hills, thrills, pills, NILS!

Um, I think I've been sick so long my brain is just searching for things to say, thus you got the commentary on how to pronounce my nephew's name!

Whether you live in the hills, are at your MIL's, or are taking pills, I hope you have a wonderful weekend remembering those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and praising the Lord for this country we are blessed to call home.