Red, White and Blue All Over!!!

Despite rain and cold weather, our 4th of July weekend was really fun. We started the weekend at a pool party at my sister's house in Boone Friday night. After some swimming and food, we headed to Mom's house. My sister Jill came up from Missouri with her family, so the girls were excited to get to have a slumber party in Grandma's room! Saturday morning we headed to Williams for the parade. It was rainy and cold, but the kids were excited. We met Janell's family there, so all the grandkids celebrated the 4th together, which was very fun for all of us. The kids got tons of candy and had fun riding the train and jumping in the big balloon! After riding a few rides and talking to old friends, we went back to Grandma's to spend the rest of the day playing on the swingset, grilling out, and just enjoying family.

Saturday evening JC, Emma, Brianna and I headed back to Williams for the Little Princess program and to listen to the band in the park. Okay, so it was only JC and I listening to the band...the girls were lured back to the merry-go-round, slide and swingset! Of course we couldn't miss out on the fireworks. This was Emma's very first fireworks experience! No, we haven't intentionally kept her from it...every other year she's fallen asleep before the fireworks began!!! She liked the colors, and her favorites were the red, white and blue ones, but she spent the entire time with her ears covered!! The kids were so exhausted that all of them fell asleep on the ride home that night.



Sunday morning we all went to church with Grandma at Rose Grove church. It's this neat little church out in the country that Emma's Great Grandpa used to attend. It's become a Halsne family tradition to attend church there for their annual Independence Day service. Other Sundays the church is closed so it's a rare opportunity and droves of people come out to share in the experience. The church has wooden floors and wooden pews, and the front of the church is absolutely amazing. There was one couple at the service who had been married for 60+ years and they were both in their early 80's. How awesome to be able to spend that many years with your best friend! Another member of the congregation has been attending this annual service for many years, as he is the ripe age of 91! It was truly an honor to be in the presence of all these wonderful people who had experienced so much of life!




Last, but not least, Sunday afternoon we went back to Janette's in Boone for another pool party! This time it was to celebrate Zachary's 7th birthday, which is July 6th. I can't believe he's already 7! We each got sunburned despite caking on the sunscreen, but it was so much fun. Emma is still a little fearful of deep water and refuses to swim by herself on a floatie or with a life vest, but we still had fun swimming with her in tow! Zachary had three friends with him, so the pool was filled with water fights, chicken, and a lot of action! Once they left, we stayed for another hour or so and had fun just relaxing in the pool. Emma doesn't take naps anymore, but she sure passed out on the way home that night! I was a little worried, but she actually went to bed earlier than usual too, so she must have been exhausted. It was such a great weekend, but way too short!!!