4th of July

 I thought I had already posted about the 4th of July, but I realized I never did!  Oops!  We had a great 4th of July.  We spent time with friends and family doing fun things and eating good food.  I'm so grateful I live in this country and have the freedoms that we enjoy.  Things are pretty crazy these days with the presidential election coming up and all the violence, but I have faith and hope that if we live righteously, we will be blessed.

A few days before the 4th, we made some festive necklaces. Red, white and blue beads with yarn.

 The beads used to be in that orange bowl, but I think Riley got to them.  ha ha.

 I made our usual festive sugar cookies.

Bright and early we headed over to the parade.  Actually, it didn't start until 10:30 so it wasn't very early, but it was very bright and hot.  I think they should have the parade start at 8 so it's cooler and the crowds might be less if it is that early in the morning.  ha ha.  We had a great time.  The kids waved and danced and got candy.  

 Someone came along selling these head pieces, of course I said no we aren't buying any, but before I knew it, one of our neighbors who was sitting next to us bought a bunch of them and handed them out to all the kids.  The were lucky this time...

Our crew looking right into the sun.  

Riley and Daddy.

Riley borrowed someone's abandoned head piece.

Beautiful Emery.

Sadie was a big help with Riley.

After the parade, we went home for a nap before we headed over to Highland to eat dinner and play with friends.

Emery fell asleep on the way there. 

Riley and Charlotte played with the bubble maker.

They did the slip and slide.

Eating dinner...these silly kids keep us laughing.  They have SO much energy!

You can't really see it, but Riley and Ella have matching swimming suits on.

Love these kids!

Laurel told the kids to do something cool and this is what Sadie did...

And this is what Zac did.  I love these pictures so much!  Thanks for taking them Laurel!

Their backyard is so fun!  The kids played the entire time we were there.  IT was great!

Doing sparklers in the daylight!  Ha ha.  Not as exciting as in the dark, but the kids still had fun.

Me and Laurel!  I'm so glad we are friends.  She is the best!  Thanks for the fun night guys!

Then Luke and Taylor came over to watch fireworks with us.  She blogged about it on her blog and has some really cute pictures here.