My Little Firecrackers

We had a great 4th of July this past Wednesday.  The 4th of July is Jeff's favorite holiday, so he was super quick to organize a bbq and invite some friends over.  I'm sure you can all understand how bummed I was when he told me the night before that he had to go into work. : (  I was thinking that our family day was no more, but he surprised me by coming home much earlier than promised.  He told me that if he came home earlier than expected he knew I would be super happy ~ smart man.

Our annual 4th of July family picture.

(I think it's kind of funny how I look bigger in this picture.  At my last OB appointment they were telling me that I needed to put on more weight.  They said I could gain an additional 10 pounds.  How lucky is that!  It's not everyday you have a doctor telling you to eat more cake and ice cream.)

Here are some other oldies but goodies.

2011 

2010

(Lincoln came just eight days after this picture was taken.)

2009

2008

I love watching our little family grow over the years.  I remember my parents used to take a family picture every year for a Christmas card, maybe I should start doing that with my family for the 4th of July.

We also got to spend the holiday with our good friends the Barzees.  Aren't they the cutest!  Their little son cracks me up.  I'm hoping that him and Lincoln continue to be great friends.  We also had our dear friends the Lundells over, and as soon as she posts her family picture I will steal it off her blog.  (Hint, hint Krista)

 After stuffing our faces with super yummy food we headed outside for the firework display.  Yep we didn't have to go far, we literally had lawn chairs and blankets set up on our front yard.  We have actually never taken our kids to see big fireworks (except Bella when she was 3 1/2 months old).  I know we are horrible parents, but having it right outside our door made the experience so much more enjoyable.  Our next door neighbors have two of the sweetest kids.  Sergio came over and asked if Logan would like to light some fireworks with him.  I wasn't sure Logan would want to do it, but he jumped at the chance.

 Sergio was quick to teach Logan that running away quickly after you light the firework was important.

 The neighborhood started setting off fireworks around 7:00 pm, but the big guns didn't come out until it got dark. 

 He LOVED watching the fireworks go off.  The only time he didn't enjoy it was the ones that made the loud screeching noise.  Other than that he kept repeating, "COOL!",  "WOW COOL!",  "THAT'S COOL!"

 At times he was literally on the edge of his seat.

 Do you ever take pictures of your kids, and get a glimpse as to what they will look like as teenagers?  This picture screams, "Mom stop taking my picture!"

 Sweet little Brooky also loved the fireworks, and had no problem setting some off herself.

 Travis, Troy, and Kate

 Jeff actually took most of the pictures for me, so I got to be in one.

I was actually utterly amazed at the firework display that our little neighborhood put on.  There are no illegal fireworks sold in our city, so anything goes.  They put on one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen.

What made it nice having the fireworks so close to our house is that when the little ones needed a break  (or if they needed to cool down, it was still 95 degrees at 9:00 at night) all they had to do was run into the house and watch from inside.

 Jeff pulled out his sound canceling headphones for the little ones.  I love Bella's little chipmunk/deer in the head light look.  It was well past 10:00 before we even got the kids to bed.  I think they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.