Here are a few photos that tell the story of our week at home. Dan and I got in on Saturday evening, and on Sunday, the whole family went to church together. We take up a whole pew now that there are two spouses to add to the mix! Here's a photo of the whole family, including Aaron and Ryan in their dress blues, looking very impressive:

Next up in the traditional activities was the celebration of Daddy's 55th birthday on July 4th and the Semi-Annual Rice Family Poker Invitational.

This year, we were joined by Audrey's boyfriend, Cade, and Hannah's boyfriend, Daniel. They played valiantly, but it became apparent early on that we were all about to get knocked out cold by the two most inexperienced players at the table: Hannah eventually won the tournament, which entitled her to the $40 prize. But first, Audrey, of all people, drew a series of incredible hands that she so did not deserve. We kept having to explain to her why her hand was better than ours. Here's a photo of Audrey at the height of her winning streak. But as was said previously, Hannah eventually prevailed, which means that Dan's two-year winning streak is over. Ha!

I also got to see Aaron walk on his new leg. Here's a photo of him showing off a little bit. Remember that movie, "The Karate Kid"? That's what this shot reminds me of.

On Tuesday, Aaron and Kelly had to head back to D.C. On Wednesday, Dan, Ryan, Hannah, Audrey and I decided to go bowling. First of all, I seem to have been away from the South for longer than I thought, because I was genuinely surprised at how many people were in the bowling alley at noon on a Wednesday. But the game was entertaining in its own right, especially when Hannah got up to bowl. Hannah does this great thing where she runs towards the line, then stops short, does this little hop, and then pretty much just drops the ball on the ground. It's astonishing how many pins she actually knocks down doing this, but mostly it's just hilarious to watch. This photo doesn't do it justice, but enjoy anyway:

Here's a bonus shot of Hannah and Audrey not letting the fierce competition get in the way of their friendship:

After bowling, we went out to eat at a wings place in Hattiesburg, where Dan and Ryan played some Pacman. Actually, Dan played Ms. Pacman. I think he has a crush on her:

At the end of the week, some of my dear friends from Belhaven days, Robin and Lindsay, came down to see us and brought their significant others. Lindsay has gotten engaged to Chris since the last time I was home, and Robin brought her friendboy Jeremy to meet all of us. Here are Robin and Jeremy. Everyone say "Awwww...."

Here's a shot of everyone chowing down on the amazing dinner my dad cooked for us. We considered going out to eat, but why would we do that when we can get such great food at home? Lindsay and Chris are at the far end of the table, Lindsay in the green shirt, (I know she's glad I took a photo of her eating) and Chris in the striped shirt, just so we're not confused about who is getting married. Lindsay is not marrying my husband. At least not as far as I've been informed.

We had champagne toasts to the soon-to-be-married couple and stayed up way too late talking. But who wants to sleep when you've got such important conversations to have?
Overall, a trip to see people worth celebrating. Here's to friends and family.