Happy 4th of July!

Today we are thanking GOD for the wonderful country 

we are so blessed to live in.

We enjoy so many freedoms that are 

often taken for granted.
We pray that GOD will bless us with leaders who fear Him and seek to follow His commands.
May GOD truly bless America!

The Neighborhood Parade

The first activity of our day was to decorate our wagon for our neighborhood 4th of July parade. Owen took this task very seriously, it was the boys first time to be a part of the parade, so their ride needed to look just right...

The parade started at 10:am, so we arrived early to ensure a good spot in the parade line up and also to meet up with "Bud" and "Honey" (a.k.a. Zach's parents) who would be escorting the boys along the parade route. (Zach and I were the official camera crew)

Owen(the shy child) is not quite sure what to think about all of the attention. Clay (the outgoing child)

is ready for all eyes to be on him!

The parade gets underway...

Following a lot of encouragement, Owen finally blessed the crowds with a small wave 

(you can see his hand is raised a bit, 

that's about all he deemed necessary).


The Cookie & Ice Cream Social

At the end of the parade route we all gathered together for a cookie and homemade ice cream social. Owen found a yummy star shaped sugar cookie that was definitely to his liking , while his momma found the most amazing "homemade" cookies & cream ice cream she has ever tasted! As I was licking my bowl (pregnant women have no shame) I commented that "if I didn't know better, I would say this is Blue Bell that someone just scooped out of the container and placed in their ice cream freezer!". I was determined to find this talented ice cream creator and beg for the recipe. It didn't take long to seek her out and soon I found myself standing before her in awe and humbly asking for her all of her AMAZING cookies & cream secrets. Before she could answer, I commented that "if I didn't know better, I would say she had taken herself over to United Supermarket and taken advantage of the 3 for $10 deal on Blue Bell they had advertised this week". She turned beet red as she sheepishly admitted that I had indeed discovered her only AMAZING cookies & cream secret.

Shooting Hoops
After the ice cream social we went to Bud and Honey's house to shoot some hoops in the backyard and then ate lunch with them. (Owen lifts his leg to throw any kind of ball, which might not be cool in high school, but is pretty adorable right now!)


Jumping at the chance to go to church
We had a brief devotional and singing time at church tonight followed by a brownie and ice cream social. (today has been great! I've loved every mouth watering minute of being "social") After the yummy treats had been deposited into our growing bellies (okay, I do admit, mine is not all baby!) we headed outside to allow the kids to bounce out every ounce of their sugar induced energy.

Fireworks!

We joined the MacDonald's at their home after the church festivities to take part in some firework fun. The kids burned about 200 sparklers before settling down on the blanket to watch the fireworks show at Nelson Park (which is just a few blocks from the MacDonald's home. A special thanks to the MacDonald family 

for sharing their view with us!).
It was Owen's first time to hold a sparkler all by himself.

The perfect end to a wonderful day!
(The MacDonald, Bruce & Knight families: Watching the fireworks!)