third & fourth of july fun!

ok, this post has some very sweet things & then so not sweet things (thanks for showing them to us, brandon!:) & is very loong!
saturday, we got to celebrate the fourth a day early!  &oh we did! 

aunt jane & uncle rocky's was the first festivity. that gorgeous flower garden is one of many around their home.

it was great to see family that we don't get to see nearly often enough. 

& to explore all over the land!

(we went for quite a hike!)

ben made quick buddies with luke, they were inseperable most of the day.

gracie made quick buddies with great-great uncle (i think) carrol. 

she had the best time with a little help from her partner almost beating daddio at checkers (the boys came & messed up the board a bit before the game was over).

the kiddos also had funs with all of their other cousins & friends there.  there were so many, i hate that i didn't get a group shot!

& oh yeah, i was once again on the winning scavenger hunt team (honestly no thanks to me- those boys are super duper smart!  thanks for letting me be a part of your team, men! the 2nd year in a row champions (not that i'm braggin or anything :) )  auntie jen, next year if you & mike can make it up we'll let you join our team!

here's malaki finding the final clue.

after the hunt, daddio & i headed over to the marcums to hang out with friends.  ben & gracie could have cared less.  "see ya"  i think was what we got.  ben looved the fireworks this year, cheering & yelling i guess.  grace, still not to sure about the loudness of it all. 

that night was almost like a date night for daddio & i just hanging out, listening to music & driving together to beth & brandon's.  so nice.   we always have fun hanging out with daddio's elementary school buddies.  i feel so blessed that he has such great guy friends his whole life & all their wives are just as equally awesome.  

the halls with their little sweetie pie.

our lovely host family.

miss embry, you just crack me up.  i could play "this little piggy" with you all night. 

after the little gals went to bed, brandon had to show us some of the silliest you tube videos.

here they are (they are not x-rated, but NOT KID FRIENDLY at all, if you catch my drift)

this first one is for butt drugstore (a real store in corydon, indiana)

the next is the count from sesame street censored (every time he says count, it's bleeped out)

sunday, on the fourth we were worn out!  i didn't want to get out of bed honestly. but we went to sheryl & jd's church for the god & country service.  she should have warned me to bring some kleenex.  i was a wreck!  what a beautiful service it was & i am so glad we went.  thanks sheryl for thinking to invite us!  it made me realize how lucky i am to live in a country with the freedom i have & the price so many have & are paying for that.  it was very moving, to say the least.  here's the video that was shown during the service.  these are all local folks & an in house video.

next stop, aunt donna & uncle toms for some yummy food & fun.  the kiddos of course had to play in the pool.  

& splash their mom

& play with chalk

snap some photos with harmonica's (as ben used to call her, now it is monica) camara

give her harmonica some lovin (gracie loves to rub arms to show affection, so sweet i think).

the brother & sisters enjoying each others' company. good times for sure.

we had such fun, but didn't make it to any fireworks that night.  toooo tired. we watched some on tv though

on a more serious note, thank you to all that have served our country to protect our freedom.  we are so lucky to live in the country we do.  god bless america!  as you all know, i'm not too good with words, but i did love this video below