An Awesome American Weekend

We celebrated the Fourth of July with a full weekend of fun. It was awesome. Sarah, Johnny and their family came in Friday afternoon. Nanny & Papa came in Friday night just in time to celebrate Bailey's birthday with us at her big party. (We had her party early because we are moving and we wanted to make sure she had all her friends to celebrate with her).
Then Saturday we hung out, ran errands and then met Joseph, Julieta and the boys at the theater to see "Finding Dory". It was so cute and all seven of these adorable grandkids did great. Pretty remarkable. 

After the movie we went back to our house to grill burgers and hot dogs. 

Then we had a big awesome water balloon fight. 

Papa handed the water balloons out the kids to make sure it was fair.

Near the end of the water balloon fight, Daddy started throwing smoke bombs into the yard. This made for some exciting times as the kids ran to avoid the smoke and each other's flying balloons

Then we busted out  our annual redneck slip-n-slide.

It was so fun. The kids loved it!!!

We ended the night with an ice cream sundae bar and sparklers. 

Then yesterday,Sunday, we had a boys cousin jacuzzi bath before church. 

It was fun to have Sarah and Johnny come to church with us. Since they are living in our house while we are in Virginia, it was fun to get to introduce them around to their new ward. 

After church we had a little BBQ brisket dinner before everyone went home.

It was tough saying our goodbyes because we will be leaving this week for Virginia and we won't see anyone until November. So the goodbyes were heartbreaking.
Luckily, Sarah and Johnny stayed so that was a comfort. 

Then today, the fourth of July, we started our day by swimming at the pool. 

Bailey loves her little cousin Hazel so much. Hazel basically tolerates Bailey.  

After the pool, we walked home and changed. Then we ate lunch and built a blanket fort and watched a movie. Love these little cousins. 

After the movie and naps, we went over to Stephanie and Aarons in Cave Springs. They were hosting a party and had invited us. We had a great time.
The kids played in the backyard and ran around until they were all tired out

Then we went out front to their cul de sac to do fireworks. 

The kids loved doing sparklers.  

They also enjoyed smoke bombs, roman candles and poppers. 

More Hazel and Bailey time. I'm so glad Sarah had a baby girl, Bailey desperately needed a girl cousin. Now that she has one, she will never let her go. 

Just a little girl talk. 

Tucker loved holding the roman candles. He was so funny. He would hand them out to those who wanted them but he really just wanted to carry them around 

We enjoyed lots of yummy food too!

Sometimes the best seat in the house is on mom's lap. The kids all snuggled close to watch the fireworks. 

Right before we left we found one last package of sparklers so we decided to light them too so we wouldn't have anything to save. 

We feel so blessed to have Sarah and Johnny here now. They are living here for the next 4-5 years while Johnny attends U of A for his PhD. Isn't that amazing?? We are so excited.
So get ready to see many more pictures like this over the next 5 years.
Love cousin pictures!

We had a great time celebrating the fourth with family and friends this year. 

We are blessed to live in this beautiful country and to enjoy the freedoms we take for granted every day. God bless America!