The 4th

Our fourth of July celebration wasn't a big one. We tend to stay home on days like these....enjoying the extra day off usually, although this time around, Terry was finishing up his week of vacation.

We started the Saturday with a planned lunch at my father-in-law's house, where we were going to grill burgers and such before my sister-in-law, Leslie, had to leave for the airport. As we were getting out of the car at his house, my father-in-law greeted us on the driveway only to let us know that he thought the AC had just gone out. .....uh....it was gonna be a hot day too. well, we hoped for the best and at first thought that the AC had started working again. When we got there, the temp in the house was about 80 degrees. Well....it started warming up....

We got our burgers done, ate lunch quickly and cleaned up. All the while getting more and more miserable. We were pressed for time since we had to get Les to the airport by 4pm, so we had no time to relocate our party. We had a quick birthday cake celebration for Ryan, Jude, and Mr. Morgan whose birthdays have just passed and for Leslie whose birthday is this week. (please excuse my singing on the video...i forgot that i would be heard so loudly)

As soon as we ate a bite of cake and ice cream (Blue Bell of course!), we packed up Les and Ryan and I took them to the airport. We were so glad to get in that cold car AC. We also were sure to stop by Sonic's "happy hour" (half-price!) and get a cold slush to go. (oh, and by the time we left the house it was almost 90 degrees inside...blech!)

Anyway, we are always sad to see Leslie and Ryan go. But I am satisfied that they got to spend a lot of time with us and her dad. It was a great visit overall. We also took the kids last Friday to get pics taken. I'll post it after I pick them up later this week.

As far as our personal 4th of July celebration went, we just bought a small pack of sparklers so that Jude could see one for the first time. He didn't mind them at all. We had more fun playing with my camera settings so that we could catch the movement of the sparklers in the dark. We caught some pretty cool pics...

The other part of our celebration came on Sunday at church. Our church always has a beautiful patriotic service complete with a full brass section, choir, armed services anthems and the Ross Volunteer Color Guard from Texas A&M to post the colors at the beginning of the service. Always neat to see. Afterwards they provide a hot dog lunch and outdoor fun for all. But the highlight for the past 2 years has been the arrival of an Army Apache helicopter. One of our members is an Apache pilot. Here is a pic just after they arrived.

And this...this is just so amazing to me! Terry took a pic with Jude last year next to the helicopter, and then again this year. Here is the comparison....

It's crazy how much a kid can grow in just 1 year!

I have to throw in this last pic just because it is so cute. Terry was swinging with Jude and he was just having a blast. Those are Cecilia's legs in the background...

Well that's it for now. I did mean to talk about the stuff I've made lately....but that will just have to wait until another time.