4th's Festivities

Well, the Fourth of July is always big in our family...
My brother was born on this glorious holiday! Lucky. So, he throws a big bash every year to celebrate this wonderful nation and himself! This year, the fireworks he set off at his house were nothing short of spectacular! My camera could not shoot fast enough, but they did capture a few great ones.

 We had a great cookout too, as usual.  Elaina had such fun with all the big girls. Man, she is fun to photograph!

I didn't get to take many pictures, it was super hot and I was trying to keep up with and keep track of Elaina.  I didn't even get a pic of Sean on his birthday :(
Hope he knows how much I love him and how lucky I am to be his sister.
Happy 4th of July!!

End of June

Since we got home from MB, life has been so busy! Shocking, right?
Alex left for Scout camp for a week, Leah had softball, and we just had to settle back into Summer.  It wasn't so bad...just a few minor issues, but after all was said and done, Alex returned and had had a wonderful time.  He earned 4 merit badges- archery was his hardest and to accomplish that badge at 12 is apparently not really common! So proud of him!
His baseball is nearly over, thank goodness! We have a tournament this weekend and then it is over.  I cannot say I won't be upset! It has been a long season- we have been playing since March!
I have not taken many pictures since we have been home, none, actually....we even went to the zoo and Dana was shocked that I didn't even bring it! I think after taking 900 in one week, I needed a break! So thankful I did take that many, though.  I blew this one up to a 20 X 24 and framed it for my bathroom. I also made a few other pieces for that space and when they are hung up, I will take a pic and show you then.  Or you could just come over!

I see this several times a day, and it takes me there- I am in love with the beach. When I was at the store last week, the girls had a sock fight- I found these pictures as I was about to reformat my SD card...good thing they didn't get deleted!
Would not want to lose these! ha!

And one day, it was "Hairstylist" day and here were Leah's creations:

So, it has been fun, right?! I will get my camera ready for tomorrow- July 4th! My brother will be 39, and I will take some shots of his party and fireworks.  I am looking forward to that!
On a side note- we were hit with one heck of a storm last Friday! It was something crazy! Out of literally no where, 90 mile an hour winds whipped through here and tore out trees and downed power lines to over 300K people! It was awful- many are still without today! We are so fortunate to not have been affected by this power outage- so thankful- it has been over 90 every single day! Even Target was out of power! Crazy!
So blessed, so blessed.

Heaven is Here

We just returned from vacation.  The beach was amazingly wonderful, again.  Never disappointing, ever.  It could not have been a better trip- every single minute I tried to savor.  It was blissful and I do believe it is a heavenly place. See for yourself:
Saturday day:

Saturday night:

Sunday:

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday night:

Friday day/Saturday morning:

Saturday afternoon:

If only we could have stayed longer...but getting back to normal life again is good- looking forward to the summer- great times!! Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't thank my mom for her amazing devotion to our family- our vacation would not have been nearly as wonderful or possible without her.  I love you, Mom!