4th of July!

This year, we celebrated the 4th of July a day early. David's youngest brother Steven will be deploying to the Middle East with the Marines, probably in the next couple of weeks! So he asked Auntie Max and Uncle Bill if we could all go out and enjoy the day on their boat and in their pool. They graciously agreed :-) We drove over to Mom Baber's house Thursday evening. Then Friday morning Steven, Mom, AJ, and the four of us drove over to Auntie Max's and Uncle Bill's house and headed over to the boat!

As far as we know, this was Josiah's first time on a boat...definitely one with a motor. He was so excited that he was going to be on a boat on the water! We expected a bit of resistance with wearing the life vest, but he was a champ! He put it right on and didn't bother it the rest of the time. Elizabeth has been out on Uncle Bill's boat once before, and on a cruise ship and touring boat in Jamaica, so she kind of considers herself a pro now. ;-)

We were thrilled with how well all three kids did! We were out for about 2 1/2 hours, and they listened and enjoyed the ride for pretty much the whole time! We thought Josiah might be scared by the motor, and it surprised him for a moment in the beginning. But after that, he was great! We also thought the motion of the boat might unnerve him. He got his sea legs quickly, though, and would have walked all over the boat if we let him! Elizabeth was mostly content to just sit back and watch the water and other boats around us. AJ moved around a little more, and wished he could have gone on the front with the big guys, but enjoyed his time anyway.

After the boat, we headed back to the house for swimming and grilling. This was going to be another first for Josiah, at least with us. We were unsure of how it was going to go. When we were in Ethiopia, Josiah cried...loudly anytime we got near the tub. It took almost a couple weeks at home before he was relaxed sitting inside the regular tub. He loves it now, and even loves getting in my parents' big hot tub. But a pool is much bigger. We were expecting clinging for a while. Well, apparently, our son has become part fish! He held onto David for all of about 20 seconds, and was then face first into the water. We could practically hold him underneath with one hand (he hasn't figured out how to stay on top of the water yet) and he would move his arms and legs, swimming all over the pool. He went under water and came up laughing. He jumped off the side of the pool with glee. He wanted to go out on his own with the water wings, but for some reason he just couldn't keep his body high enough in the water. I think next time, he'll be wanting to jump off the diving board! ;-)

AJ and Elizabeth weren't quite as adventurous this time. It usually takes them a bit of time to regain their comfort level. Both were excited to see how much they had grown over the year, and how well they could touch in the shallow end! Elizabeth still insisted she had to have floaties on. Normally, they would have been jumping off the side and holding their breath under water by the end of the day. They just weren't having it this time. But they still had tons of fun! (I think once things finally settle down in our lives, we're going to work on getting Elizabeth into swimming lessons again. She hasn't done them in several years. I think Josiah would enjoy them, too!)

Grandma and Grandpa Scott drove over and joined us all for hamburgers and hot dogs, lots of yummy fruit, potato salad, and the works! The kids and I made Berry Cheesecake Parfaits for dessert. We prepared the pudding layer ahead of time, and then layered them in individual cups after dinner. The kids, and David, ate theirs in ice cream cones, and loved them!

We headed home after a long day. The kids both slept a couple hours on the way home.

On Saturday, we relaxed around the house for most of the day, ordered pizza, then headed out to the movie theater parking lot in time to watch fireworks from a distance. The kids loved them. Josiah keeps asking to watch them again. Next year we'll get closer for more of the "full experience" ;-)

We lift our prayers with those of many of you for our nation, the leadership, and our troops!

Another way we have decided to support our troops is through Operation Worship. http://www.operationworship.com/ I'm not sure of all the ways to participate, but we bought the Bibles at a Lifeway store near us for $5 each, wrote messages in them, and then returned them to the same store. They'll take care of shipping them! (I'm just not sure how long they are participating.) Blessings!