Thursday, July 5, 2012

Fourth of July Fun!

Despite this crazy heat we are having here, we had a great
time celebrating the 4th!

We kicked it off with a very hot parade.
The big girls walked, yes walked, in the parade with
Hope and Aves and I collected candy for everyone!

Waiting for the parade to start...

The girls and their besties all ready to walk for Jesus, and candy!

We decided it was too hot to do our usual 4th activities,
so we headed to Grammy's pool with our favorite family
friends, the Liskeys and Keplingers.
With 8 adults and 8 kids, there was a lot of fun to be had!
We swam all day, grilled some burgers and swam some more.
The big kids took some time out to play a little rock band.
Then we all loaded up and headed out to Waukee for the fireworks!

Mr. Keplinger arrived first and had quite the set up for us.
Chairs, blankets, a table and sparklers!!!
 And some more of our friends, the Mahoneys!

Everybody, huddle around the explosive!

It took a minute for Aves to 'warm up' to the sparkler!

The big girls loved them, as always!

Ooooh, a ball of fire.

Even Ella had fun with sparklers this year!


All the kids camped together to watch the fireworks. 
Despite the heat, the busy schedules, and all that can
get us distracted, it is so good to stop and be grateful.
Grateful for our freedom, for those that have come before
us to fight for it, and those that continue to fight today
for our freedom!  Thank you!
And thank you to our wonderful friends and family.
We are so blessed to have each of you in our lives.
We love you!