Fourth of July

The Fourth of July was so much fun this year! Last year Daniel was in China and I had a terrible stomach flu, so pretty much there was no where to go but up! We met some friends for their neighborhood's parade.

They were all very patriotic, waving their flags and decked out in their red and blue.

Elli was especially excited about the parade, and here she is watching it from a distance, making its way toward us.

The parade was brief -- some fire trucks, some classic cars and some neighborhood kids on bikes -- but their was lots of candy thrown and patriotic music, so our toddlers thought it was the best thing ever.

Afterwards, they had a little celebration with free food and drinks, a petting zoo, bouncy castle and face painting. My very favorite moment of the day was while Elli was getting her face painted, Caroline reached up and held her hair out of her face so it wouldn't get paint in it. Such a simple gesture, but so full of love! Made my mommy-heart nearly burst.

Much of the weekend, Daniel and I worked hard to finish painting our house and some landscaping work. We had invited some friends over for a cookout, so that gave us a deadline to work towards.

I didn't take many pictures, but I loved seeing all the kids sharing a meal together. They were all so cute and fun! We are so thankful to have so many wonderful families to share life with here.