Today we celebrate our Independence Day...

The 4th was on a Wednesday this year which makes it slightly less enjoyable but we still managed to have a fun and festive day! My family came over and we enjoyed some delicious BBQ. Adam and I also made some spirited rice crispy treats and star spangled fruit kabobs! We had flashy necklaces and miniature flags to help show our patriotism as well. 

We ended the night with a bang - ha - as we watched our neighbors put off fireworks (not very legal ones - yikes!). Turns out Sadie has a "firework hating" friend in Harper - he was none too pleased. Might have to stick to watching them on tv next year. :) 

4th of July...

We were invited to our next door neighbor's house for the 4th of July. It was a really great party with lots of kids for Adam and Harper to play with and lots of adults for Andy and I to chat with. There was lots of yummy food and treats - including an icebox s'mores cake I made (recipe here).

We offered up our backyard for the fireworks portion of the evening. Turns out the neighbors behind us were also having a party and putting off fireworks so by the end of the evening we had one big joint grand finale - it was the perfect celebration of proud Americans taking time to honor and appreciate our freedoms. God bless the USA!

Family & Friends Filled 4th of July Weekend...

This was the first time in awhile that we stayed at home for the 4th of July - having just traveled 2,000+ miles it seemed like a reasonable decision to stay put. We managed to pack in a whole lot of family and friends time into the long weekend and after hosting parties all three nights we felt like we'd traveled 2,000+ miles again - ha! 

First up was an evening with my family - Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mark, Aunt Kathleen & Olivia. We did a taco bar, took lots of pictures and enjoyed the nicest weather of the weekend by sitting around a fire and shooting off fireworks in the backyard. The kiddos loved doing sparklers - and let's face it - so did the adults. A great kick-off to the 4th of July weekend. 

Next up was a dinner with Ommy & Poppy. We did steamed artichokes with hollandaise sauce for dipping as an appetizer then we had a "Salmon Off" between Poppy and myself. He grilled his with lemon, dill, garlic and olive oil while I roasted mine with a dijon mustard and honey topping. We both agreed the others was best - making it a tie I suppose! :) Even though the weather was drizzly we caught a break in the rain and got to do some sparklers and fireworks with them as well. Adam even got to shoot off a sparkler sword which brought sparklers to a whole new level. 

Finally for the actual 4th of July we had our good friends Paul & Ashley over. We enjoyed some awesome appetizers of shrimp cocktail and lobster stuffed pretzel then it was a traditional BBQ with sliders and hot dogs. Festive red, white and blue rice krispie treats rounded out the menu. We also had to compete with some cool and rainy weather - but again we had a break in the precipitation and got to finish off our stash of fireworks and sparklers with the neighbors joining in on the fun. 

A festive and first 4th of July for Harper and lots of memories made for all of us.