4th Of July 2023

4th of July...my favorite day of the whole year!!! 

For our craft we decided to just make more decal shirts like last year since we had so many decals left. I love the decal that Ella chose....so cute!!! 

My Dad's cousin Marv and his wife Barb were visiting. Barb is on the left of Ga-Ga. My parents always invite tons of people from church. Debra and her husband Dave have been coming for the last couple of years. 

The spread is looking pretty yummy! 

All of Ella's Barbie stuff is stored at Ga-Ga's so Anna and Addison always play Barbie's with her when they come over. It's nice because it keeps it new since she doesn't have them with her all the time. I do think we are approaching the time where they are going to outgrow Barbie though. 

The boys hanging out in Ga-Ga's playroom. Most liking playing some sort of game. 

Barb, Ga-Ga & Miss Ellen. It was so fun having Miss Ellen here for our camping trip and the 4th of July! 

Bill lending moral support to Michael while he mans the grill! 

Papa & John a friend from our church. He and his wife Margaret have been coming to RCC for over a year maybe longer. Margaret was working so she wasn't able to make it to the BBQ. 

Bob hanging out with Debra....there's no way Bob is going to miss out on the 4th of July party!!! 

Last year I was given some fun 4th of July temporary tattoos. I brought those with me and tried to tat as many people as I could. Christina and the girls are showing off their skin art.  

Michael visiting with Miss Ruth...he's still cooking! He had to cook a ton of food and we still actually ended up running out of hamburgers! 

Fellowshipping! 

Praying! 

Cooling! 

Michael bought this Ryobi worksite fan for the Farmer's Market. His Water District has a booth at the Burien Farmer's Market once a month. He thought it would be nice since it's so hot in the summer for folks walking by to get a bit of mist to cool down. Since the Farmer's Market wasn't happening on 4th of July I asked him to bring it home so we could use it. It came in so handy! I want to buy one so we can take it camping! 

 Stephanie is also from church. Her and her husband Scott took over the music ministry for Sunday's mornings while our church looked for a new worship pastor. They are such sweet people! 

We ate well!!! 

A whole lot of us ate well! 

There were still more people under the gazebo. 

Pa had 4 canopies set up which provided much needed shade. It was quite hot out! 

There were touches of decorations all around. 

One of the guests from church brought out his huge clothe frisbee. 

The boys had fun tossing it around for a bit. 

We had so many yummy desserts, but the cutest one was this flag cake! 

Something fun I decided to add this year was the game of Bingo. I'm always trying to do activities with the kids, but now that they are getting older I thought why not do something everyone can enjoy. I ended up finding this free printable 4th of July bingo set on Pinterest. I just had to go to the library, print it out and then I chose to mount the paper on cardstock so it would be more sturdy. 

Everyone had their Bingo cards with all sorts of 4th of July images such as a flag, firework, hot dog and so on. It was so fun! 

I had enough Bingo cards so 30 people could play.

The kids and I had gone to the Dollar Tree to buy some cute, fun prizes for the winners. It was a little tricky because I had to buy those with a vast array of ages in mind. I ended up buying for 4 prizes. One for the person that got bingo in a diagonal line, one in a vertical line, one in a horizontal line and then finally for black out. Thankfully we didn't have two people get black out at the same time. 

Cheri won a cute watermelon bag with a fun cup that says...'One in a melon'! 

Terrise won a frisbee and some Kool-Aid freezer pops! 

Al won a pineapple tray with a cup that says...'Summer Vibes' or something along that line.  

Stephanie won cute ice cream bowls and a colorful ice cream scoop! 

After Bingo Ellen and I noticed that we chose the same decal for our 4th of July shirts! 

Barb & Ellen both chose to do a small decal in the front of their shirt and a large one in the back. 

Sister from another Mister right here!!! Love this lady! 

The Tashiro-Townley Family! 

Stephanie had to leave earlier than the rest of her family so we snuck in a quick pictures with all of them. 

Pa visiting with folks in his office. 

We brought out the photo props as well. I think we've been using these for at least 3 or 4 years now. This picture is hands down probably my favorite photo prop photo ever. I just love the girls expressions on their faces....they are so fitting for the props they chose to use. 

The Tashiro-Townley brothers...just chilling on the couch. 

On the right is Scott their Dad...he is an excellent napper! 

Caleb and Owen decided to add a little music to the festivities. 

So while Ga-Ga & Ellen were cleaning up the food they got to listen to some beautiful music! 

Caleb has been playing the piano for quite a few years more than Owen. He's so good at and he really does enjoy it! 

Owen got up and showed off some of his skills too. He's played now for about a year and a half and he's progressing so nicely! 

Al & Kathy's time to head out. I just love these two sweet people. Kathy and I love giving each other a hard time! 

Dave & Debra's turn to head out! 

I didn't get a picture of everyone before they left...some people are sneaky when it's time to go! 

We love our Papa & Miss Ruth or as Ga-Ga calls her Ruthie! 

Such special friends that are honestly family...Bill & Christina! 

Look at that proud Papa face. Scott loves his boys. Josiah or Joe is on the left and Josh is on the right. These two have been a great addition to the youth group. We sure have enjoyed getting to know them. 

It's not a party if these girls don't do some posing shots! 

Goofy, glamorous gals!! 

Showing off their God Bless America bracelets that I bought them last year! 

Now for more photo prop photos! 

These the older peeps got in on the fun! 

I love that I captured the moment that Barb was mesmerized by the fireworks! Hahaha! 

The festive host and hostess!

Besties! 

With all their grandkids! 

Grand girls! 

Grand boys! I love how Zeke is snuggling Ga-Ga! 

The ladies! 

Every year we have tried to recreate this picture that we originally took in 2018. It's always hard for the poor kids because of the sun. They are such troopers for us moms that like our traditions. 

The girls wanted to be artsy with their bodies so I got them all posed and had them spell out USA! 

Time for the fireworks! 

The neighborhood did not disappoint! 

I love doing life with these folks! So many fun memories! 

We got the parachute fireworks and had the boys run after one of the parachute guys and then the girls got the next one. 

Boom! 

Snakes are always a hit! 

I like this picture because you can see Michael and I....

taking this picture!!! :) 

I was smart this year and called Christina to let her know what kind of fireworks we had bought so we wouldn't buy all the same stuff. 

We did buy a few aerials this year and we felt like big time firework setter-offers! 

Mainly we stick to the cheap stuff though...pop-its, morning glories, ground blooms! 

The kids love the sparklers/morning glories even though they are a little freaky to light. 

When you snap the picture at the exact moment the morning glory ignites. No one was injured! 

Another wonderful holiday spent celebrating our great nation and the freedoms that we get to enjoy. In the words of Lee Greenwood....God Bless the USA!!!