Stretching Out the Fourth!

Happy Independence Day, Oh Fellow Americans!

decorations for our church's parade float

We've been celebrating around here. Last night Adam and I, plus Philip, Anna, and Julia, went to the home of some good friends for a July 4th dinner. There were 13 of us there. We started with an assortment of great appetizers -- bean dip, chips, cucumber sauce with bread, baked brie with fruit on bread, and a sausage cheese dip too. After that I hardly had room for dinner!

The main meal included: chicken, hamburgers, and hotdogs (all from the grill), salmon too, homemade buns, chips, baked beans, corn on the cobb, green salad, potato salad, cucumber/onion salad, stuffed eggs, beets, and a few other things I've certainly forgotten. Dessert: chocolate cake, pecan pie, and ice cream. Needless to say, I had only a few of these items, and couldn't finish it all. What a feast! The teenagers/young people thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We ended with a little fanfare of fireworks in the yard next to the river as the sky darkened and the lamps were lit. It was a delightful summer evening with friends new and old. I was so happy 3 of our 4 kids could be there with us!

I've almost gotten used to the feeling that my children are far from me, that I will hear from them but not generally be with them, that we won't have "family evenings" together much anymore. So last night was such a treat, especially that Anna had the evening off and could come too. She and Philip are both working so much, and so hard, that they arrived at 6:00, sat down, and were instantly tired! But they perked up and chatted for the evening. I loved it.

It's  H  O  T   here today. I'm mostly staying inside, recovering from a UTI. Adam and Julia are out on the river in the sunfish. The town is revving up for Croakerfest, our annual July 4th festival in town, complete with parade, vendor booths, contests, games, bands ... you name it, we have it. I'll go down later today when the heat abates somewhat. At 6:00 we'll decorate our church's float for the parade -- the first time we've done this in a few years!! Yippee!! Tomorrow we'll all load up on a friend's flat trailer and ride through town blowing bubbles, squirting silly string, and handing out pamphlets about our dear church.

Happy July 4th (and 5th and 6th)! Here's to stretching out the holiday!