The 4th

I love the 4th of July. I mean I really love any holiday, but the 4th of July is just the perfect epitome of summer. It's barbecues and country music and pool parties and watermelon and fireworks and friends and family and red white and blue and some serious gratitude and pride for our free country. I love it all, but sometimes it's a holiday that comes and goes in a flash and some years I find that I really didn't do much of anything exciting to celebrate, which is lame! This year was great though. Both hubs and I had a long work-free weekend which meant we got to spend Friday and Saturday nights with friends and then join his family for some Independence Day fun. 

Crazy amounts of bread + red, white, and blue. What could be more American?

It scares to me to death to light fireworks. I did it anyway and I didn't die! 

The master firework lighter

This dog was the softest thing ever. I WANT ONE.

Matt and his dad made some divinely delicious ribs for us. Sooo gooood.

Thank you summer for giving me freckles!

His freckle game is still so much stronger than mine though.

Swimming and Rummikub

I am so grateful to live in the United States of America. Even though it seems to be a pretty scary place these days in so many ways, I'm thankful for the liberties that we enjoy because of the hard work of those who have come before us and also those who are continually protecting us. I feel so lucky to be able to make my own choices about where I live and what career to have and who I'm married to and when to have kids and how many of them to have and to believe and worship as I choose. I think I often take all that jazz for granted, but it really is pretty amazing. It's a blessed life we live here.