Happy Second of July!

Traditionally, we host a night-before-the-fourth bbq/gathering with a group that originally all bonded when we did a Bible Study together. Over the years, we've supported each other, sent kids to camps together, celebrated birthdays together, and up until this year, celebrated Memorial Day weekend together in Sunriver. The Whites, Schillings, Meyers, and Quigleys - what a fun crew!

Instead of bbq'ing this year, we went for the baby back ribs option. It went over stupendously last year, so we opted for a repeat - however, this year I found it all a little overwhelming. So much so, that I have to give a public apology that I didn't actually relax until about a half hour after the meal.....chill a little, Steph! But, the mashed potatoes and gravy, baked beans, raspberry pretzel salad, ribs, fresh fruit, etc..... were very good. Next year, though - back to burgers, much simpler!

Despite the little spots of rain (what's up with that, Oregon?) - We were able to converge outside for the majority of the evening.

While we were hanging out by the fire, we gave a try making s'mores with those Campfire brand "super-marshmallows". They are HUGE! They tasted good, and roasted fine, but to try to get the whole thing in your mouth while watching something amusing.....not a positive combination if you want to try to get it "down the hatch"! I got it in my hair and everything - so thankful to Travis to quickly grab his phone to be able to catch the performance!


After dinner, the dads went to a local fireworks stand - and came back with one especially creative item. In an effort to be kid-friendly (and very funny), John altered the title a bit. I like the picture of Mikayla showing Ellie why it was especially funny.......



Don't those two look like trouble? Yup.......

Killing time until dusk arrived.......

We let the kids out front with some of the items that didn't require "darkness" to be effective. Can you tell Erica and Mikayla found the experience quite amusing?

Andrew, Traig, and Brayden can be quite a team together - I love that trio.....

I've never been more proud of my son...... (and just a footnote, occasionally you'll see Brayden in glasses - he wears contacts 90% of the time, but now and then we give his eyes a break....his eyesight is actually quite bad - it was a shocker when we figured it out when he was in kindergarten....)

Sister love with our doggies. Sydney is actually quite drugged up on Diazapam (Valium) in this picture - we're trying it for the first time as advised by our vet - as Sydney HATES fireworks and gets really worked up. She was indeed showing the effects at the point of this picture, kind of lazily walking around and tripping a bit - it was pretty entertaining, but I think it worked.

Amy had a horrendous headache, so a couple hours after dinner, Mark flew solo with the kids and showed up for the fun - I'm so glad he did - it was great to have them, though we missed Amy.

The topic of Travis' longer hair has come up lately - Lisa is patting the top of it in this picture. We all like it, even though he got teased about being a little "Jimmy Neutron-like" last night. I'm just happy he's not going for the bald look again. Steph's grin is one that says, "yeah, I'm just putting up with this picture being taken....."

John's new lens has such potential to capture light that you would be shocked to know that it's dark as we are setting out our lawn chairs for the night's entertainment.....


There - in this picture is proof that Lisa, at least, was in attendance.......(Dennis was there too, we just didn't have a good picture of him)



We let the boys do the lighting this year - we slowed down the show a bit. (But, provided alternative entertainment in itself.....) - so, by the end, we went for the big finale of setting up the Costco set all at once (8 of them)...... Traig had Michael's torch and unfortunately only lit the outside ones - so Michael had to come in and save the day.



A pic of Mikayla and I snuggling up.......

At the end, the traditional sparkler time.....Ellie and Jackson are SO CUTE!!!!



And, of course, Christina's too cute too......

Another great year of celebration - today's a busy day as we are setting off for a morning at the lake, and then a wedding of two of our dear college students at 4pm this afternoon. I'm sure that will be the focal point of our next post. Trying to make the most of this great Independence Day weekend!