The Fourth

This was the first year that we were home on July 4th. In all the other years, we've been away celebrating our anniversary. Since it fell on a Wednesday and we had church that night, we just planned a relaxing day at home which was a nice change of pace for us right now.

After sleeping in and a nice breakfast, we all headed to the pool

I've been "eating clean" for a few months now, when I can, allowing other foods for special occasions. I'm not fanatical about it but I just try to cut out white flours, sugar, and processed foods as much as possible. One of my friends told me about these chocolate truffles made with dates, nuts, cocoa and a little honey and butter. In my opinion, they need tweaking, but they were pretty good considering the ingredients!

We had a cookout of boneless ribs, grilled zucchini, fruit and oven fried potatoes. Perfect summer meal!

Nathan is 4 months old now, and celebrated his first 4th calmly and happily as usual. He has quickly shown us his personality--laid back, content and happy. He's still up every 3-4 hours at night, but he goes right back to sleep when he's done eating. Last night he slept 8 hours, and I'm hoping that maybe, just maybe, he'll start doing longer stretches for me.

However, I will not complain about his seemingly frequent eating at night. He is truly perfect--just like the guy he was named after! ;)

We had a special patriotic service at church that night, and I teared up a few times. My brother-in-law is in Afghanistan, and I have several men in my family that have served in the military. I am so thankful for their sacrifice for this great country--the best country on earth.
 Brooklynne went to spend the night at Grandma's after church, so I took this picture of the kids quickly before she left. You can see how big Nathan is here--and how different he looks than the other two! He is a hunk!

We were able to make it out of church in time to go to fireworks in our local town. Let me tell you, it was one of the best firework shows I've seen! Joey kept his ears plugged, but wouldn't take his eyes off of them.

Sticking with his personality, Nathan didn't even flinch. I tried to cover his ears but he wiggled away to stare at the bright lights, calmly watching through the loud "Boom".

It was a wonderful day spent together as a family, church family, and celebrating our freedom. I don't take it for granted.