Festivals, Friends & Fireworks.....almost

On Saturday we headed to Franklin for their firework celebration because we had been told they were the best around this area. Unfortunately, we still don't know. The problem was we got there several hours before nightfall and Hallie just pooped out on us. It was what I would call an old fashion 4th festival...take a look

A dunking booth

A watermelon eating contest

Booths to tempt children and take parents hard earned money :-)

The city of Franklin has fixed the square to honor veterans 

They have several monuments dedicated to veterans from their area we were looking over the names & I was shocked to see my Dad's name although it was misspelled, it was his name and his war in which he served.

The entire square is such a testament of respect to veterans which they so richly deserve

Hallie knew I was disappointed about the fireworks like she was so she was quick to say yes to a few pics when we got home to make Mom happy :-)

If we ever move into another house I think one of the things I would miss the most about this one is our country front porch. It has served as the backdrop for Hunter and Hallie's pictures since they were babies.

We ended this jam packed day with a trip to Lakeside Marina to eat and I took my camera hoping to get some good water shots unfortunately the water was way crowded and Hallie was too shy but we did run into an old friend

Leah is very special to Hallie and us. She was Hallie's dance class helper until this year when she moved away to college.  Hallie has always been a little shy and reserved and Leah always sought her out to give her a hug & encouragement.We love you Leah!

Stars & Stripes

A few weeks as we drove through Wedowee I spotted the prettiest display of flags. If you take pictures even as a hobby you will understand that my first thought was oh I wish I had my camera!  I hoped we would go back before they took them down, so this Saturday when Tim suggested eating at Lakeside I thought-Yes! I already had Hallie dressed in patriotic colors since we had been to a July 4th festival earlier (a blog on that later) and I just loved how the pictures turned out.

Here are my favorites

America, Land that I Love....

We have had a wonderful 4th of July holiday. It started with a great message by our friend Kevin. I also got to hear Tim sing Believe because Kevin requested it to go with his sermon. I love hearing Tim sing even though it makes me nervous just because I know-he is so nervous. It ended with Tyler singing God Bless the USA and that song gets me every time; it makes me realize how lucky I am to live in a country that GOD has so richly blessed.

As soon as we got home I begged the family for photo time & they were so patient (shocking!)

Here are some of my favorites of Hunter & Hallie

Since I usually can't talk Hunter into pictures I took advantage and snapped some of him by himself

And is it just me or does this pic of him not smiling make him look so much older?!

For this next one I tried the self timer on my camera; although I HATE seeing pics of myself it was fun to set the button & run to get in the shots while the kids shouted hurry! Although I took 3 this is the only one I will let you see and it still makes me want to wire my mouth shut HA!

As soon as we finished pics Tim fired up the grill, YUM!

While he grilled, Hallie & I made July 4th cupcakes

We finished the day with cold watermelon

I realized I couldn't ever remember Hunter & Hallie just really getting messy and truly enjoying watermelon so of course that called for more pics!

If you look closely at this next shot you can see the watermelon juice running down her chin and both arms :-)

At the end of the day Hallie said "Mom, it has been a good day" and I thought it truly has. I hope yours was great as well!

Hooray for the Red White & Blue

I've always loved dressing Hunter & Hallie in holiday colors. Tonight I'm remembering some past July 4th pictures and outfits.

 Hunter doesn't look like he was in the celebrating spirit he is not much of a fan of pics!

I chose this last picture just for my friend Angel (she will know why ;-)

Happy 4th of July-Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday!