July 4th

I am pretty sure that this past July 4th was only the 3rd out of 9 that Ken & I have spent somewhere other than AL. We didn't buy any fireworks or sparklers. It was a pretty quiet day. But that's okay. A quiet day is fine with me. We DID do some AWESOME hamburgers (thanks Ken), potato salad, and banana puddin' and root beer floats for dessert. Some friends came over and we taught them how to play Sequence. While playing/completing the second round, we heard the fireworks on post going off. We climbed up to the 3rs floor landing to see over the buildings that were in the way on our landing. We were able to see the top of the firework bursts, and the bottom of the firework bursts. In the middle was a HUGE cloud covering up the rest. It was pretty funny. We stood there about 5 minutes watching the few 'sparks' we could see. Then Tate got hot, and if any of you have heard how Tate is when he's hot, it's not pretty. I decided to go back down to our apartment and get him cooled off. Apparently, the others decided the fireworks show wasn't worth it and followed me down. The kids watched 2-3 movies (Yes, one of which was Cars for James) and didn't get to bed until 10pm. We all had fun together and hope next year, at least the fireworks will be better. :) No pictures because I didn't really think about it. :)

I have always been thankful for our military and the freedoms and rights it protects and preserves. Being IN the military now, that feeling has only been magnified. The men and women of the military have sacrificed so much, by choice, for us to live and believe the way we want. Sunday, while singing the national anthem in church, I was impressed by the feeling of gratitude toward all the servicemen/women throughout our nation's history. The soldiers and their families have given their time, effort, and duty to our country and people. I just want to say thank you to all the veterans and active duty soldiers. Thank you for serving, preserving, and protecting.