Fourth of July 2012

We had a wonderful Fourth of July this year.  It was a little warm but it was still a nice day.  In the morning we did a little shopping for our bathroom remodel and then took it easy until we went over to Dale and Bev's for an evening BBQ.  Most of John's extended family was there including his Grandma who came from NW Iowa and his cousin Jenny and her family from Ohio.  

Elsie got this cute little dress from Grandma Bev.  This past weekend I had it in my hands at Kohl but put it back knowing that I had a dress I picked up at a garage sale for the holiday.  I was really proud of myself for putting it back even though I REALLY liked it.  Well a couple days later Bev went shopping and came back with this dress.  She had no idea how much I wanted it either.  

Elsie just loved playing with the little flag. 

  

And of course she wanted to put it in her mouth like everything else. 

I, of course had to buy a little diaper for the day so I bought this fitted diaper from Orange Diaper Company.  I love the red and white stripes and the snaps on it (which you can't really see) are blue stars.  And oh my goodness the materials were sooooo soft.  The inner is organic bamboo velour!

All of the kiddos!  

Back Row:  Olivia, Katelyn, Emma-All 5 years old

Front Row:  Elsie-6 Months, Tommy-Just turned one year, Danny-7 Months

Cousins

Elsie with Grandma Ev

So I am not a huge fireworks person.  I don't really care if I see them or not.  Well every year our town has them (I have never gone to watch them).  This year was no different.  We came home, transferred Elsie to her bed, and then John took off with Cinder to drive around because the fireworks really scare Cinder and instead of giving her a sedative, we just remove her from the situation.  The fireworks are shot off two blocks from our backyard so they are really close.  When I heard them start I decided to outside in our backyard and see how well we could see them.  We have a couple of trees in our backyard which I though would obstruct them but I was wrong.  So I grabbed my camera and played around with shutter speed.  I have so much to learn about taking good photos haha but this is what I got.  I think we have a pretty good view from our back steps.