July 4th

I LOVE the 4th of July!! Not everyone enjoys the 4th as much as I do. I don't understand why anyone would rather stay home than go and watch fireworks. I love it!! Now I don't enjoy just seeing the fireworks-- I have to be under them and hear the BOOM. If I can't hear the whistle and boom of the fireworks, it is not the same. This all started in Abilene-- I love to watch fireworks in Abilene because it is easy to get close and it is just fun. When we moved from Abilene, we would drive back every July for the 4th. Not until my in-laws moved from Abilene did I have to find a place to watch the fireworks in the DFW area. Well --last year I discovered the fireworks in the quad-cities. I park at the old Birdville Stadium to get close. This year I parked in the same spot and ended up next to the same two families as last year. What are the odds of that?

I think I have gotten a little ahead of myself. Our forth began with the kids spending the night with their grandparents and watching the parade out at Robson Ranch the morning of the forth. We then all met up at my sister-n-law's for a cookout and swimming. It was fun spending time with family. Addie loves playing with her baby cousin and Brandt is his uncle's shadow. All the kids had a great time together. As we were leaving the girls came up with a plan to spend the night --so Addie was not with us at the fireworks. We missed her, but she had a great time with her cousins. My sister's family met us at my new "parking spot"--which is just 3 minutes from my house-- we all had a great time. It may have taken less than five minutes to get there, BUT over 30 to get home. It truly did not bother me one bit that I had to drive around the world to get home that night. I LOVE the 4th!!

Work Day at Mom and Dad's

Mom and dad are putting together a new swing set for the grandkids. We are all trying to do our part to help get it together. The kids jumped right in there to help.(O.K. I should clarify the boys jumped right in there--it was "too hot" for the girls. The did bring us cups of water, which was greatly appreciated. Beth said "There are Mary's and Martha's in the word" as the girls were serving us the water. I love their sweet spirits.

The boys are helping wax the screws. (Go figure--it helps the boards not split.)

Sweet Boys

Today we saw the mail man wipe his brow as he walked away from the house. (It was very hot today.) We grabbed a bottle of water from the frig and the boys wanted to give it to the mail man. Brandt and Cade ran after him. I don't know if he saw them and ignored two boys running after him or if they just could not catch up with him. I started following them down the street because they just kept running after him. They finally caught up with him five or six houses down. He was thankful and took the water from the boys. As we were walking back home Brandt said "He is fast!!!"