Fourth of July

We drove to Tyler for the fourth this year. Jonathan, Dad, Pawpaw, Ryan, & Kris played golf that morning while mom, Katie, & I entertained 4 active little boys. Cooper has grown so much! Connor spent the night so that he could see us when we got there Tuesday (love that) and the boys had a lot of fun rough-housing with Poppy & Connor before bed Tuesday.

We cooked out for lunch and spent the day at the house together with Grandma & Pawpaw, then after dinner we went out to their house at the lake to shoot a few fireworks before we had to hit the road and get back home. Although J got to take a few days off (yea!), Lauren had to work the rest of the week.

I love seeing all four boys together, and Cooper is crawling around and really hanging with our boys & his big brother these days! Watching them play is so much fun, and I hope that they are good friends as they grow up together. How fun to grow up with cousins around your same age & gender?

 

It was really nice to spend a little time with Grandma & Pawpaw, and as you can see our wild little boys enjoyed it too. Below, Jack had fun with a tupperware hat, Jack scrambled into great-Grandma's lap when he saw Ben was sitting with her, & Ben discovered great-Pawpaw has a bellybutton, too!

More pictures from the day/evening: 

Thanks Uncle Ryan for lighting all our fireworks! What a great day of celebration of our nation's independence, and we are so thankful for all the servicemen and women who stand up for our continued liberty. This is truly the greatest nation on earth, and today is a reminder of how very blessed we are to be Americans.

I came across something I'd saved but forgotten about (too late!) - this is a reminder to myself that I want this to become one of our traditions on the fourth. I love Dennis Prager, and this is a great idea of how make it a special, meaningful day of celebration.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/270964/fourth-july-seder-dennis-prager?pg=1