let freedom ring

We spent this 4th of July with family and friends and had a great time! We kicked off the long weekend with a night at home finishing up things that still need done and then headed for the lake!

We went to Twin Lakes with my brother, SIL, and their 2 kiddos, mom, dad, sister and BIL. My brothers friend Eric and his family joined us as well. My brother has a great ski boat and we hauled along the jet ski for a day of fun on the lake. Unfortunately Twin Lakes is a fairly small lake so the water gets rough pretty quickly when you get lots of boats out on it for a busy weekend. So we didn't do much skiing but the jet ski was lots of fun and we went for a couple round of tubing as well. They have a great park right on the lake so we set up camp there for the day and it was a great place to keep all our food and extra stuff, as well as the kiddos to hangout while not on the boat. We all went out in the boat to watch the fireworks on the lake - so pretty! They choregraphy the fireworks to music on a local radio station which makes it really neat. I loved sitting on the boat with our little peanut and being so thankful for all the things we enjoy daily in this country without even thinking twice. Thousands of men and woman have fought for those rights over history and continue to fight for them and we are so blessed to live in this country. I thought of this often while pregnant with Lily - just how fortunate I was to be born here and how fortunate she is too. Truly, have you ever thought about everything we have just because we live in America? I have sponsored a child from Uganda through Compassion International for several years and Milly (my sponsor child) reminds me everytime I receive a letter from her how blessed I am to live in this country!

Watching the fireworks on the boat made for a late drive home - we didn't get back until after 1am but it was worth it!

Then the following day we headed in the other direction to spend the day with Jimmy's family. We enjoyed a grill out at his grandma and grandpa's followed by dinner and hanging out at his parents house. We decided to head home before the fireworks since Jimmy had to work the next day but we had a great view of them from the road on the drive home!

We had a great 4th and even though our little monkey won't remember the fireworks it was fun for us to enjoy it with her - holidays like this just remind me that we have lots and lots to be thankful for!

lily with daddy

looking festive

my sister & i on the jet ski

just chillin

my family:)