4th of July Smiles

I hope that you all had a nice 4th of July…. whether it was a holiday for you or not.

I love my native land.  I am very patriotic  and I love our Independence Day Celebrations.

We are not very original and we celebrated this year exactly the same way we did last year but we still enjoyed every minute of our holiday.

Early Fri. morning, July 4th,  we donned our matching red, white and blue shirts ….

… and headed to our church’s flag ceremony and patriotic program…..

….followed by a nice breakfast.

We enjoyed the good food and being with our friends. It was a nice way to start our holiday.

After the program and breakfast we came home and put the movie Independence Day on TV. I started preparing food for later in the day while we watched the movie.

Making home made ice cream is a 4th tradition at our house…

I put a pot of ham and beans on to simmer in the sun oven for a few hours …( my homemade bean soup is a family favorite recipe  that I learned from my mom.) … Later in the day,  I put some cornbread in to bake. I love using our sun oven instead of our kitchen oven…. especially when it is a sizzling 100 degrees outside!

Then I had fun decorating  for the 4th…. inside and out…

I dressed up my patio plants with flags ,

(they don’t show up very well but I put out about 30 flags in the patio plants) … and…

made it look patriotic and  festive  for our holiday dinner.

The kids got here as fast as they could after Ernie’s band finished marching in the 4th of July parade.  Mindy prepared the chicken while Ernie got the smoker ready.

Claire marched with Ernie’s band’s color guard today. EJ did not play in it because he is at jazz band camp.  Unfortunately I have not been up to attending the parade for the last 3 years since our car accident… but I was cheering them on from here at home.

 

While the tri-tip and chicken cooked a few hours in the smoker….

We had plenty of time to play in the pool….

and have fun together goofing off.

The sun oven bean soup and cornbread made a good lunch…

to tide us over while we waited for dinner to cook in the smoker… and yes… the kids did get to eat in the pool… which is usually against our pool rules.

When the meat was cooked to perfection…

… we chowed down on our delicious dinner with all the traditional 4th of July trimmings.

Of course, we saved enough room to enjoy ice cream and cup cakes for dessert. EJ is not in these pictures because he is at a music camp for 2 weeks. We surely did miss him.

With both our tummies and our hearts full, we went to the Quake’s Stadium….

… to end our holiday with a great fireworks show and patriotic music.

That is how we celebrated the 4th. I would have liked to have invited friends over and had a party but I just wasn’t up to it…. maybe I can do that next year.

I am glad that we could have a nice holiday with family as we counted our blessings and thanked our Heavenly Father for our country and our freedoms.  The long day of celebrating completely wore me out and I’ve had to spend all day down in bed today recuperating…. but it was worth it.

I hope you had a nice 4th of July too. What did you do to celebrate?

Hugs, Grammy Lura

Belated Smiles 1 …. Gracie’s competition

My son and his family came for a short visit shortly after I got out of the hospital last March.  I was not up to posting about it at the time but that does not mean it was not important and dear to me.

They came from Utah  because our cute little Gracie  was in a cheer leading competition here in CA.

It was a fast  trip but we made the most of every minute. Cousins had a great time together….

… and so did the big folks.

We had a nice dinner at Mindy and Ernie’s…. Then Grammy wanted family pictures.

There is nothing Grampy and I enjoy more…..

…than being surrounded with our Grands….so I had to get some pictures of them.

Getting every one together for a family picture can be a challenge…

…but it always works out in the end.

I’m so glad that my son, David and his family could come. Marla, Emma and Gracie had been sick with strep throat a few days before but got better in time for the trip.  David came down with it while he was here but was able to see a doctor and get meds to help. Luckily, young Davey and Evan did not get sick and neither did the rest of us.

Time flew by and before we knew it, it was time to get Gracie ready to go to her competition.

Our Gracie Girl was ready to go and cheer her heart out. I was still too weak from my bout with sepsis, organ dysfunction and liver abscesses to attend. I was disappointed I could not go and watch…. but…. Gracie put on a private show for us the best that she could without her team.

Claire and Emma wished Gracie well….

Mindy said goodbye to her little brother, who is not so little anymore…

Grammy got a couple more pictures of her cute boys….Evan, Austin and Davey…

… and with one last hug, they were off.

I wish that this sweet family lived closer to us… but … since they don’t, even quick visits are a treasure. This visit was short but sweet …. and one that made my heart smile.

What makes your heart smile?  I hope many things do.

Hugs and best wishes from Grammy Lura