4th of July

Our 4th was awesome... Carl and I got home around dinner time and we had a BBQ outside with the kids and James and Stacey, it was great. The kids loved their hotdogs, grapes, green beans, and a few chips :) We all enjoyed hamburgers and hotdogs, salad, and some chips too... We didn't buy a lot of fireworks, but did invest in some sparklers, pop its, and about 20 various smaller fireworks... so we got out the pop its and the kids LOVED them, they laughed and tried to throw them and we showed them how to stomp on them, and it was just fun... I thought they might be scared of the sparklers, but nope... they loved those too... we had to keep them away from them actually because they both wanted to grab the ends... and a hospital trip was definitely not something we wanted for an ending of our day, so with much supervision we moved onto the fireworks... Carl was our technician for the night and I think he had more fun scaring us by not moving away quick enough for our likings than he did with the actual displays... The kids clapped after every fire work and they were up WAY past their bed time. Ryan would inch closer and closer until he was too close for this momma and we would have to put him back in his seat... this happened about a dozen times... there was one firework that was like a strobe light and Randi did not like that one... she whined and when it was done she threw her hands up and said "all done, yay" it was cute and we laughed and couldn't help but light just one more of them... after that we all were quite annoyed with it and threw the last two of the out. Finally we picked up the yard and watched the other neighbors light off their fireworks. Here are a few pictures from the day...

Grandma reading to Randi and Ryan sometime before the 4th, but I love this picture so I had to include it

Randi just being happy... and adorable... also wearing her 4th of July bows that her Aunt Stefi made... love them Stefi thank you!

Loves for daddy... 

Grandpa wrapping up Ryan after running through sprinklers... and yes this is Ryan's first Vikings towel... he wears it well :)

Cutie patootie alert! Notice the double chin... I wish it looked that good on me!

The clan... lined up for the fireworks display... it was so much fun and we are so lucky to have shared it with James and Stacey. Thank you for coming down and spending a fabulous holiday with us. We love you!

Also I have to say it is so nice to live in a family oriented and safe neighborhood, since being married we have lived in an apartment and fireworks weren't allowed and we always had to "go out" to celebrate any holiday really, but we just sat out on our lawn like most of our neighbors grilling, chatting, laughing and it was amazing to see our neighbors doing the same thing... not to mention cheaper on the wallet being able to enjoy all of their fireworks as well... I love our new home, we are so blessed and so happy and it is coming together more and more as we live in it... next up is landscaping of the yard and painting the family room... oh what fun jobs! hehe... 

I hope you all had great 4ths as well and that you remember our heroes that serve to continue our independence in this Nation not just on the 4th but everyday. I've never been more proud to be an American than I am at this point in my life and I know that after this experience I will never look at a Flag or a Uniformed person in the same way. My eyes well up every time I think of what our Flag stands for and what our Nation is and what the people serving truly do sacrifice to protect our freedoms... life is amazing... and regardless of political opinions and corruptions that there may be, our Country is amazing and I'm proud to live here...