Independence Day 2015

We had a BLAST (haha) on Independence Day this year!  It was just so much fun!  It was an extra special day this year, because my cousin's (Kristin) daughter was also turning one year old.  Michael and Kristin prayed for several years that God would bless them with a child.  Michael is a big July 4th fireworks enthusiast and he and his brother always put on some amazing fireworks show.  So, when they got the call last year that it looks like their adopted daughter would be born on July 4th, it was obvious God was in complete control of everything.   Now, they can celebrate her birth every year with a huge party!  And that is just what we did.   So, while we were celebrating America's birth, we also celebrated Adelyn's birth!

Sweet Addie with her special cake!

 

Addie and her daddy, Michael  (I wish I would have snapped one of my cousin, Kristin, with her as well)

And, they brought over to my parents' house a huge, 18 foot water slide in celebration.  Oh. my. goodness it was so much fun.

My brother, Jeremy, taking a turn

Luke, making a huge splash at the bottom.

Drew having a turn.

Abbey's turn--her face cracks me up!

The speed on the slide was unreal!  It was so fast, that each time I went down it I couldn't help but let out a little scream.  Ha!

And, we made sure to make time for some family photos before the rest of the festivities.

My parents and all their grandchildren.

My parents with their four kiddos.

The whole family.

and the silly photo...some day we will appreciate this. 

And then there was food and eating...lots and lots of food and eating. The food was ridiculously awesome and the spread was massive!

There were two double sided grills like this full of various meats.  Also, others brought delicious homemade briskets, pulled pork, chicken, homemade chili and many other meats. 

Ok...so this may be a bit of photo overload, but I actually remembered to bring our camera around everywhere I went to document the day. So, I may as well share and document here.  

First, here are a couple of my cutie pie nieces...

And here are my cutie pies...

Abbey placed her hand over her heart as cousin, Lilly, sang the "Star Spangled Banner" to begin the fireworks.

Sweet friends hung out and chatted with my mother.  My mom can no longer form logical sentences, but she really enjoys company and can usually respond with "yes" or "no" well. 

The kids loved playing in the smoke of the colorful smoke bombs.

And, one of their very favorite things to do was to chase after and catch the falling parachutes.

Abbey often took comfort and shelter beside her daddy.

selecting the perfect smoke bomb

watching a parachute firework in the sky.

It was fun to watch the Japanese Lantern fly far away.

watching it until it left our eyesight

Abbey's first sparkler.

Luke was a little more afraid of the sparkler than Abbey.

Every year, Drew and I enjoy playing with the "bulb" mode of our camera.  Here, Drew used a glow bracelet to write the words "I love you" while I manned the camera.  Writing that takes some serious concentration and talent, as you have to write backwards, from right to left and Drew had to cover the light from the bracelet in order to create spaces between the words.

More fun with the bulb mode--the bulb mode basically keeps the camera's shutter open for as long as you are pressing the shutter.  this allows the camera to capture the path of the fireworks.

The fireworks were so awesome!  I have seen many fireworks shows in my lifetime, but the show that the guys put on for everyone at my parents' house is always my favorite!

OK, I better stop with the photo overload.  But, if you would like to see more, feel free to check out my flickr album:  https://flic.kr/s/aHskfzpHKh.