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?
 

Gratitude November 15

Grateful for extended family that feels closer than extended! :) aunts, uncles, cousins..

More than 5 on Friday

So the story goes that I caught the chicken pox in a bounce house the summer before my Kindergarten year, so I have forever been terrified/paranoid of bounce houses.... until last Sunday when we were invited to participate in a fun day @ Arispe put on by the Afton Lions in honor of Philip's family.  I thought it was a fundraiser, come to find out it was just 'hey, lets set up the inflatable & feed everyone who wants to come... so we went! here are a couple of shots Bethany caught of Jeff & I on it w/her phone..

and here are the the ones I cuaght on my camera...Big O (Owen):

 Bethany & Ronnie:

Brenda:

 The 3 Arispe Riemenschneiders:

Ryder's first time down:

so the moral to this post: no matter how much of a repectable adult you are, you MUST partake in the fun of an inflatable slide ASAP!!!!!!! Honestly, I cannot wait to do it AGAIN!!!   :)

have a FUN weekend!!!

Easter

our first extended family holiday w/o him.  he sure was missed! but life must go on & we must remember that he's with us even tho we can't see him.  His family:

 my aunt & cousins

love this young family of cousins!

We have our Easter dinner at noon on Easter Sunday at my mom's house.  Most of our extended family dinners are there as she has the most room.   We started this year with family pictures out on the deck in the sunshine then we ATE, & ate & ate...... then while the kids were running on the deck (its the full length of the back of the house) the big cousins, Jeff & I went out front & hid eggs & baskets for the little cousin/niece & nephews.  Who knew hiding them could be as much fun as finding them?? we had a blast!! who could find the most creative places, whose would be the first or last to be found, who spent the most time getting one 'perfectly' hidden.... loved it!!

a few of our creative hiding places:

& couple of my favorite people deep in conversationthen taking naps...

after the hunt, we all went back inside, some left but the ones that stayed had a little sweet snack & then just really hung out, lots of conversation, a little snoring but oh so sweet catching up!!! Pretty sure this was my favorite part of the whole day!

How was your Easter?

Thankful Thursday

wagon ride thru the country at sunset?! sign me up!!!

 What a blast this was!!!

 these are my 5 neices/nephews (so far-expecting another in January) they are my loves!!!

I truely had no idea I could love achild w/the fierceness I do for them.

Grandma said 'this will probably be the quietest we will ever see this group. they were perfectly behaved, well mannered little people the whole 4 mile ride!!

um yea, would you guess these 2 aren't blood related?!

gma, mom, Eli (on the phone, seriously??! lol)

Tim was thrilled to be along -ha!  he ws there for the chili supper to follow.  but he was hanging out in a tshirt & mom had 4 layers on :)

this shot needs some color balance to see the clouds/sunset appropriately!

& in the final stretch they finally understood why Great Gma had the blankets!

gma/gpa, brother Philip

When gma started playing the piano all the kids gathered around! so fun to see her share it w/another generation! I remember being right there on the floor once!!

Today I am thankful for Family!! My brother's cancer is growing, attacking the nerves in his brain that control the right arm, leg & hand.  He has no grip, can't move the arm Or control the leg. he walks w/an obvious limp as he throws that leg to the side to walk on it.  I am thankful we get to keep him for a while longer & that his children & wife get more time w/him as well. I am so thankful & grateful that they invited us into their chaotic & unsettled home so soon-a mere 2 days-after the doctor visit that explained these symptoms to them.  Love your family, tell them you love them & appreciate every day you have with them!

4th of July

WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY!!

I think I mentioned last year that the 4th of July is my favorite.. even w/my lil mis-hap on Saturday I was cleaning house & prepping for out annual post-parade BBQ for Monday! I got the important parts done & proud. here are the few shots I captured over the day:

My lil brother Jeff & his girls

our chief of police (who also is our neighbor)

I love this shot of the flags leading the parade.

ALL THOSE WHITE SHIRTS?! High School marching band YES!

SOME grocery store employees in their 'drill formation' .. quite a way to break in a new assistant manager ;)

this is a friend of the family. she re did this tractor for a project @ school

After the parade we headed down to our house for BBQ potluck. OH so much food! cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, cornbread casserole, texas caviar, veggie tray, crackers, chips, dips, burgers & dogs, 2 pies & a chocolate peanut butter creamy dessert that we snacked on all afternoon!

tiny sampling of the food we shared after the parade

extended family sharing stories: my grandpa, his neice, my mom

Tim taught Eli how to run his new mp3 player so he played all afternoon :)

Mom again, other brother Philip & his wife Brenda

cousins on the couch

snoozers...

texas caviar! YUMMMMM

AND THEN we were off to Tim's mom's house for her potluck supper.Great aunt & Uncle & cousins

tenderness

cousins

hunting talk

just a shot that struck me

SO CUTE!

Great Aunt Darlene  in the center

AND THEN we went home to CRASH & wish we had a weekend to recouperate from our weekend :) but I would do it all over again!!

How did you spend the holiday weekend?