Happy Independence Day!

Holidays once seemed sweeter when I was in school or working and had a long weekend or break to look forward to. They haven't lost their importance, but they tend to creep up on me now that I'm staying home and not in a position where I am longing for those days off. I do appreciate when Sabian gets free days, but for me I just remember the anticipation of those days after slaving away, trudging through tests and papers at school, or wrapping up final projects before the holidays at work. I wouldn't trade what I am doing now and I count it a blessing to be able to stay home with Addie, but these days I find myself looking at the calendar more often to remind myself what day it is!

July 4th has come and gone, and we had the fun opportunity to hang out with our friends Greg and Libby and some of Libby's family. They treated us to a shrimp boil at Libby's sister's house in Marianna, which is about an hour from Wewa. We met a few new people and we ate and ate and ate. At first when Libby invited us she asked, almost apologetically, if we were okay with not having the usual 4th of July fare such as hamburgers and hotdogs. I assured her it was fine. It was even more fine when we arrived at her sister's house and saw not only huge shrimp, but crab legs as well. I can't tell you how excited I was when I realized that they were adding crab to the mix. I wish I'd taken a "before" picture of the literal mountain of food that was set before us. Shrimp, crab, sausage, corn on the cob, and potatoes were piled on top of one another in the middle of the table and we dove in.

This photo represents only a fraction of what we ate, and is only part of what was left over. Our generous hosts gave us bags of left overs to bring home with us, much to my joy!

Addie spent some of her time that day poolside.

We were unable to actually swim after taking so much time to chat inside and Addie took a great nap while we were there. By the time we would have made it in the pool, it was time for us to head back to Wewa to meet up with some of the kids to watch fireworks.

Given that clapping in church prompts Addie to widen her eyes as large as saucers and squirm a bit, we were unsure about how she would react to the much louder fireworks. Intially, she had the same reaction - big eyes, kicking legs - but after the first couple of BOOMS, she really watched what was going on. If I can figure out how to post the video, I will. By the time we got home our girl was too tired to stay up for the sparklers we bought her, so we'll save those for another day. I'll speak for her and say she had a good first Independence Day.

Side note: in the days since we saw the fireworks I've been conducting a series of hearing tests on Addie, just to make sure she can still hear us. And yes, sometimes I still sneak into her bedroom to make sure she is still breathing - sue me.

On the 4th and today I am thankful for our friends Greg and Libby. They have embraced us as part of their own family and we enjoy the times we have with them.

Speaking of Greg and Libby, we hung out with them after church Sunday night. They are in the midst of building a new house and are inching closer and closer to completion. We were honored to be their first dinner guests, dining in their yet-to-be-finished home. Addie relaxed in Greg's camping hammock for a bit while we ate:

Ahh, the life of an almost four month old!