July 4th!!!!

The 4th is fun stuff at our house. It is David's birthday and since both of our girls became citizens of this amazing country the day they landed on US soil, it is pretty special for them as well!

Aly had a tradition of waking Daddy up on the 4th in her red Do-rag with her present and lots of homemade cards for him. Well, this year it was even better because Lili got to be a part of that tradition as well. They presented David with his new summer hat that they helped me to decorate. They also brought him his red bandana to wear. (Before you ask, they are NOT part of some gang!!) LOL

Daddy and his girlies

Lili loves to kiss me... what can I say...I'm just so kissable!!!

Okay...on the count of three lets all just kiss each other!!!

Aly helped me to make Daddy's special "Death by Strawberry" cake that we make every year for his special day. It was SOOOOO yummy. Then around middle of the day we piled in the car and spent the rest of the day at a cookout with friends. Bryan and Gloria invited us to crash their family celebration and enjoy the day with them. Well, actually they weren't after us, they just wanted our girls!! They are first time adoptive parents waiting on their referral and are EAT UP with Aly and Lili. It is so funny and I remember the feeling OH SO WELL. (Lisa, do you remember when I used to race you to the nursery at church to be there when you came out with Allie???) Anyway, it was such a fun day with delicious food and wonderful friends to enjoy it with. The girls had a blast!! Aly got in on a volleyball game with the big kids (pics below) and she ate enough watermelon and cantaloupe to float a small army. She was absolutely EXHAUSTED by the time she crawled in bed last night. Lili was the center of attention and I don't think Gloria put her down but for about 5 minutes total during the whole day!! Lili was in Heaven!!

check out the pics-

I told Aly to take it easy on the older kids and not to "whomp 'em" too badly. She did great!!! They never knew what hit'em ;-)

Aly and her new best

playmates...

Poor thing about wiped herself out. We kept the water flowing, but she was still so hot!! After a break and some fresh fruit, she was ready to go at it again. Unfortunately the older kids were pooped...never mind it was nearly 100 degrees out there!!

So she decided to hang out with Daddy for awhile.

Daddy...do you want to share my strawberries?

Sure baby... but I'd rather share a kiss!!!

As far a Lili and her first 4th of July...poor poor Gloria spent about half the day with Lili doing this...

...and the other half of our visit with Lili

doing

this...

I don't think either one of them minded it one little bit. Do you see that smile on Gloria's face?? It started the minute I handed her over and stayed put all day long!! Oh...I hope they get their sweet baby girl soon!!

After a hard day of play (and sleep) out in the summertime heat we came home ate some dinner and started getting ready for bed. Unfortunately the neighbors had other plans. The fireworks started in our SUBDIVISION about 9PM. I couldn't believe that as dry as it has been, they would have been allowed, but they did it and Lili was TERRIFIED!!! They weren't just doing sparklers, they had the big firecrackers out there...you know...the kind they use for the town fireworks. They were shooting them off in the street!! Well, there was no way Lili was going to go to sleep, so I thought maybe if I went out on the porch so she could see what all the racket was about that maybe it would help. I'm not sure if it helped or not, but she stopped crying. She was too busy burrowing a hole into my chest with her head while she had a death grip on each of my shoulders. Poor baby!! I had to all but chain Aly to the porch as she kept wanting to go out into the street where they were shooting them from. She was loving every single minute of it, but I believe that Lili would rather have been anywhere on the planet other than our house!!

I can't wait for next years celebration. I can't wait to see what amazing things God has done in our lives over this next year. It is never a dull moment with us, so it should interesting to say the least. Just to see the changes in Lili over this next should be pretty awesome to witness!!

Hope your day was special too and that you made some wonderful memories for your family!!

Until next time~