4th of July (parts I,II & III)

As I said last week, the 4th is my favorite holiday.  I think its due to the family gathering with out any expectations (gifts to give) or extra unnecessary hype.

But anyway, we start our day as a family watching the parade, I LOVE this part!!  this corner we have sat on for as long as I can remember with exception of a couple of years we tried other spots, yes, we returned to old faithful.

teaching the youngsters is a tough job but we share it well.

 (end part I)

Then we gather for a pot luck lunch. YUMMMMM I love having it at our house.  Tim grills since he prefers any excuse to skip the parade. win-win. This time, he smoked pork butt (when its really the shoulder WHY is it called a butt?? someone explain that to me PAHLEASE!) the night before & got me up at 1:30 to shred the meat while it was warm.  Yea, I got up at 1:30AM to shred meat. Crazy.  but it was soooooooooooo good!  I am so thankful to have a husband that is willing to go to such lengths to feed my family! (all this smoking, monitoring & staying up late was following a full day's work)

 

So very grateful for this great covered deck on our house. Its quite amazing some times how many it will seat.
 
 

 

some of my cousins filling their plates

These girls! so good to pose for a photo for me. I have to dig out a similar pose of them from a wedding a few years ago! (Grandma, Aunt Sue, my Mom) (end Part II)

And after a nap, we were off to Part III for the day.  Tim's mom's annual potluck picnic.  As she has sold her house, this will be the last year for this celebration at this location. a little sad, a little relief for her to have less property to tend to & care for.

our nephew-dog Neo. Such a dolly!

Random shots of family enjoying the grub.

oh, some shots of my deck decorations this year. I change things up a little each year. Do you decorate for the holidays?  Do you change things up?
How was your 4th of July celebration?