4th of July 2010

I am very patriotic and I love celebrating the 4th of July - our country's independence day!  I am thankful that God allowed me to be born here and not in Afghanistan or Pakistan or Iraq.  When I get frustrated with high taxes and all of the beauracy in our government, I have to remind myself that I am not a citizen of Mexico, trying to find a way to escape from the horrible life and government there.
I'm just saying "THANK YOU" from the bottom of my heart!

I am thankful for all of our men and women that risk their lives voluntarily to protect my rights and freedoms - I am mindful of the ones that made the ultimate sacrifice.  I am aware and mindful of the sacrifices these men and women make on my behalf.  I love the opportunity to thank one of them for their service.  Each time I do this, I am amazed at how humble the receipient is - like it's no big deal.  I have watched grown men tear up when thanked for their service.  My guess is that they don't hear it enough.

I love fireworks as part of the celebration.  This year John and I got to watach 2 awesome firework shows on the lake.

Friday  night - Aaron, Audrey and sweet baby Lila joined Poppy and I on our boat for fireworks.
I love this sweet family - it makes my heart happy to see the way that Aaron and Audrey love and respect one another and of course the beautiful little girl that they made is our precious granddaughter, Lila Grace!

After work on Friday, we all headed to the lake - got on board the boat and headed over to the restuarant at Ventris Cove's Trails End Resort.  Poppy and I love this restaurant and the people that own/run it.  They have amazing food - they actually grown their own vegetables, bake their own bread, etc.  Yummy food!

Lila did not like her life jacket!  But she had to wear it.

Beaver Lake is beautiful!  I love being out on the water.

Walking up and I mean UP the trail to the restaurant! Remember, the food is worth it!

Lila ate really good.  She especially loved the home made rolls. (Nene sneaked a couple out for her to munch on later)

Beautiful Audrey and Aaron!

Nene and Poppy!

Aaron was brave and got in the water while we waited for the fireworks to begin.

Once we got the boat situated with the anchor down, Lila got to come out of her life vest and she had fun playing while we waited.

The boats began to gather in anticipation.

Amazing - Lila was not a bit afraid of the loud noises coming from the fireworks.  She watched in awe.  Nene with her great camera skills was driving herself nuts and everyone else in the boat  because I couldn't catch the darn fireworks exploding!  All I got were a couple of embers or total darkness.  Aaron to the rescue - I think he was tired of listening to me.  ;-)  Thank you Aaron for these pictures.

And - Miss Lila got sleepy so she put her jammies on, inserted her binky and grabbed her snugggle toy.  She was asleep in no time.

The end!