oh say can you see!

happy 4th of july! we had a busy, fun-filled weekend...the kids came off their sugar high from ethan's birthday just in time to celebrate the 4th! after a delicious dinner with our church family, we headed over to nana & pappy's to watch fireworks. the kids had a ball throwing poppers in the road & waving sparklers, and brian had a ball taking pictures of the lit-up sky. amelia slept through most of her first fireworks, which is not surprising considering the noise she sleeps through at our house! :) we truly had a wonderful day praising God for our freedom. we are so thankful to live in this free nation. america is obviously not without its faults, but we still have so much for which to be thankful. and we are ultimately thankful for our freedom in Christ... because of Jesus Christ, we have been set free from sin, and we praise God for this indescribable gift of grace and mercy:

for the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (romans 6:10-11)

now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. and we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 cor. 3:17-18)
now that deserves some fireworks! enjoy the pictures from our star-spangled day, and i hope to be back soon with a truckload of pictures from birthdays and my travels...







our friends ross and amy are in town, and they brought aiden over to have a little fireworks fun. ethan loved having a buddy to hang out with... and we loved spending some time with amy & ross, too!





i cannot take credit for any of these awesome fireworks pictures... didn't brian do a fabulous job?! :)


i realized tonite that we failed to take a family picture in our red, white, and blue. aw man! but i did get the kids in their patriotic garb after church today... i guess this shot is a tradition now!


hope your fourth was full of fun!