5th of July Fun

i KNEW these would be cute, but i surprised myself even here. they are gorgeous b&w (if i do say so myself) !



























jen was giving all the kids snaps over there...
dan...him and his brother sam were playing basketball in the driveway
me doing a back flip. i like that our camera can catch these things now.
abby and her cousin carter.

beautiful flower don't you think?
what a sweet thing she is
sparklers...poor andrew saw that somebody had missed the water bucket we put them in when they burn out, so he figured he would put it away, but grabbed the hot end and burned his hand.


so beautiful....
she was lovin' jens hat!

such a lovely little lady...
me and my mommys girl. the last few days she has been my little shadow, and has wanted only me most of the time. she is teething...maybe thats why.
margo was helping the kids with the buzz lightyear blast off toy. she is SO good with her grandkids, she loves getting down and playing with them.
So yesterday was a great day. one of those that i was sad to see end as we drove home. we had a great breakfast, put abby down for a nap, then i made home made pizza which was whole wheat and sooo good, then went to the gym and actually RAN a whole mile without having to stop once, which is a huge accomplishment since having kids...haha. so i felt pretty happy about that... then went to sam and heidi's where the kids played in little kiddie pools and with this really cool buzz lightyear blastoff toy that hooked onto the hose, and jumped on the trampoline with sprinklers. we had a bbq with hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, red white and blue jello and whipped cream dessert, the cupcakes i posted earlier, deviled eggs, bbq potato chips (the only chips that tempt me...) corn on the cob...root beer floats... i think i got everything. we had a hula hoop contest, it was so funny watching the girls do that...then a bubble gum blowing contest (none of these contests really had winners, we just had fun trying), and then the kids had fun blowing bubbles...then we did fireworks and sparklers and fire crackers...dan had gone with his dad to evanston and gotten some AWESOME and very illegal fireworks. the final two were like REAL fireworks, they were loud and HUGE. lots of fun. at first abby kept jumping at ever fire work, but eventually got used to it. andrew fell asleep by 10, just as abby got a second wind. which luckily didnt last thru the way home. but lots of fun was had. enjoy some pictures, i am still getting to know my new camera so enjoy LOTS of picture. i am so happy with it though, its so amazing, and i love how clear the pictures are now. some of the pictures are out of order, because i am putting some of my favorites in the normal size, and using some others in collages from picnik, but its taking quite a while for picnik to load them.... so until they are loaded, i keep going back to add more because blogger is being faster right now than picnik. also, big SHOUT OUT to tom and michelle and family, they adopted their baby girl today! the birth mom had decided to keep the baby after the birth, and then called them last week to let them know she would like to go thru with the adoption with them. i am sure they are thrilled, i haven't talked to them or seen the baby yet, but i am so happy for them!!! what a huge blessing that will be for the baby and my brothers family welcome her into their home.