Birthday/Fourth of July Weekend with the Stanfields

Claire (14months) and Levi (17 months)

Happy 4th of July!

Claire actually fell asleep riding in her stroller at the flea market!

Me, Claire, Selah, and Jenny

Claire, Bucky, Brian, and Levi

Saying 'ooh' at the fireworks

Brian and sleepy Levi

Selah (3) and Bucky (30)

Bucky and Selah

Getting ready to go see fireworks

Playing in the front yard. Do you see their view?

Getting ready to go swim

Claire's serious face

We had a great long weekend in Blairesville, GA with our good friends the Stanfields. They were nice enough to invite us up. We left Thursday after work. Bucky was especially excited because we took the horses with us. I was not too thrilled about that, but it ended up being okay. We got up there late Thursday night and went straight to bed. Friday we got up and Jenny cooked an incredible breakfast. Brian and Bucky went into town to run some errands and do some work. We played with the kids, they took naps, we ate again, and got ready to swim. We took the 3 kids to a local pool and they had a blast. There was a baby pool which was a big hit. We came back and all took naps. That was great because I never get to do that at home. Bucky and Brian rode horses all afternoon in the mountains. Jenny cooked another wonderful dinner of steak and potatoes. She is an amazing cook and literally cooks 3 meals a day. She then made a cake and pie to celebrate Bucky's 30th and Selah's 3rd birthday. We packed them up and went to watch fireworks. They didn't start until after 9:30. The kids were tired, but held on pretty good. We had fun eating cake and watching the fireworks. We came back and went to bed.

Saturday, we got up and ate another great breakfast. We got dressed and went to the flea marked in Murphy, NC. I really love going to it. Claire didn't nap in the car so she ended up falling asleep in her stroller. She has NEVER done that before. That was kind of nice so I could look at stuff. I got a few things and Bucky really racked up. We left there and ate some pizza for lunch. We came home and took naps while the men rode horses again. Jenny took us to a local farm to get some fresh eggs. Claire got to see chickens, peacocks, pheasants, and bunnies. She said 'ooh' and 'wow' a lot! Jenny and I cooked hamburgers for dinner. After Claire went to bed, we sat by the campfire for a little while.

Sunday, we got up and guess what, ate again. Bucky and Brian went for a short ride. We loaded up and headed back home. We made it back thanks to a little thing called a portable DVD player. I think Claire watched 4 movies (short ones) while she was awake. We came home, got unloaded, washed, and went to the store.

We went over tonight to meet John Neighbors. He is our good friends, Phillip and Lynsey, new baby. He was born on Thursday (Bucky's bday) and is doing great. Lynsey is a natural already.

We look forward to watching him grow.

Overall, we had a great long weekend. We are so thankful to live in a country where you can worship God, work hard for a living, and spend time with family and friends. Those are the things that make us a family. As Bucky would say, 'God Bless America!'