Happy 4th

Our Fourth of July was jammed packed full of family, fun, and fireworks. In fact, i'm pooped so i'm gonna try out my mobile app for blogging! We'll see how it goes!

I can't caption each picture, do here's the rundown. We had an indoor picnic (with grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles) because it was a bazillion degrees outside. Afterwards, we went outside to shoot of some kid friendly fireworks. Jackson was a fan of the poppers, snakes, and sparklers, but so much anything else. In fact, many tears were shed our of sheer terror. (he "watched" part of the city fireworks underneath his blanket.) It only snapped one quick pic of me and Belle today... I spent my day trying to capture her cuteness instead. We ended the night at the Raymore city fireworks and they were wonderful! The lit up the sky for 25 minutes.

Our day was wonderful. We are so fortunate to live in this wonderful country and we are forever grateful for every sacrifice people have made of their time, family, and lives in order for us to enjoy living in the land of the free. Good bless America!

Now, here's hoping my kids sleep in an extra two hours to make up staying up past bed time! Ha, yeah right. :)

Proud to be an American

Happy 234th birthday, America!!

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays! I love grilling burgers, spending time with family, and of course my fireworks are my favorite.

Jackson and I celebrating the holiday last summer

I once spent the 4th in another country, China. I was so bummed when I found out that I wasn't going to be in the states to celebrate.I didn't get to see fireworks that year, but it was the time I learned to really appreciate the freedoms we do have. When the kids were listened intently about stories about what it's like to have brothers and sisters, or when we had to sneak into a secret church service that was held in a old factory just to be able to worship... these were the moments that I thanked God for the freedoms we so often take for granted. 

This is a picture of the Old and New Testament Bibles that were once shared amongst an entire village. They were buried separately in between uses. The man these were passed down to was refused to have his picture taken with the Bibles in fear of what could happen to him if he were discovered.

On the international flight home, a Canadian woman had too much to drink on the international flight home and she ended up being handcuffed with zip-ties. She was making all sorts of ruckus and eventually began to criticizing everything about our country and it literally took all of my effort to not get up and hit the lady. I just could not wait to be back on American soil.

We live in a great country. A free county. There will never be a time when we all agree, but that is the greatest freedom we  behold-- the freedom to disagree and to make our voices known. United We Stand. One Nation Under God.

When Derek started talk about joining the Army, I never hesitated to support him. Who am I to accept my freedoms without the willingness to offer sacrifice. There are surely days when I am overwhelmed and sad about the months we will spend apart, but I am so proud of my husband and his willingness to serve our great country.

My handsome soldier

While you have fun and celebrate today, be sure to remember the reason we celebrate this holiday. For ideas on ways to show support to the troops, check out this post.

Videos and Pictures

I still couldn't find what I needed to upload pictures from my camera to my computer, so I just went out and bought one! And-- my new one is pink! :)

Here is video of Jackson and me playing with his baseball toy.

Here is a video of Jackson crawling.

It is kind of a long video, but along with the army crawl and climbing, it has some "Classic Jackson" in it. First, the crossed ankles. Unless his toes are in his mouth or he is standing up, his ankles are crossed. Second, you can hear him pant like a dog. He gets this from his Grandpa who pants back at him. Third, is standing up and bouncing. If someone would let him balance on them, he'd stand and bounce forever and ever. Sometimes, it is exhausting. And Fourth, is the babbling. This kid has a lot to say sometimes!!

Here are a few recent pictures:

Here is Jackson with my Grandma Trickel. This is a great picture!

And here Jackson is so excited to meet his cousin Gabe

Jackson is enjoying one of the best joys of summer-- Strawberry Icecream!

Jackson celebrates the 4th of July

Click here for more pictures. And remember, the newest pictures are at the end of the album.

Summer Time

I have had a really good summer.

We spent the 4th of July up at my parent's house in Kearney and Derek's parents, Brad & Mary, came too. It was really nice to get to spend it with both of our families together. We played in the pool, played the Wii, ate burgers, and did fireworks. It was good. I miss not seeing Dad at work every day! I try to call and catch up with him periodically though.

We've seen a handful of movies lately too, which is something we just love to do together. We went to see Get Smart with Derek's folks when it first came out. It was so funny!! I really like Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway did a good job. We also went to see Hancock too and we both really enjoyed that movie too. I am a big Will Smith fan, even when he a bad superhero! And its a great example of how believing in a person can make a difference. And of course, we went and saw Batman today. You know its a big movie when the 1:00 and 3:00 matinée shows are even sold out. It was good movie. Seriously, the Joker is one of the creepiest Villains ever! He was so creepy. And Batman's gadgets were as cool as ever.

Last weekend, we went up to watch the Free Friday Night Flick at Crown Center with friends. I like just being outside and watching a movie, though the camp chair is only so comfortable. We watched the Monte Python and the Holy Grail. Interesting movie. I met with my book club friends this week and that was so enjoyable! Things have been so busy with one having a baby and then me starting school and I'm really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. I've been in a reading rut and I hate it. I am really looking forward to the last book of the Twilight series that comes out on August 2nd. I am anxious to see how it all works out! And I am very anxious for the first book to come out in theaters in November. Which also reminds me that I am excited to see the new Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants that comes out soon. We have friends coming up to visit on Friday so we are going to head out to the Royals game for Fireworks friday and buck night! In a few weeks, we are headed out to a T-bones game too.

Derek's been working on his motorcycle with his dad each weekend and driving it around more and more often. It's nice that it gets such good gas mileage. Once he beings to drive it to work, I'll probably end up driving his car a bit more since it gets about 10 miles more per gallon.

A friend of ours got us to watch Veronica Mars and we both got really into it! And let me tell you that it is so hard to focus on school work when you would rather be making your way through the seasons! I didn't really expect to like it much, but I think it's pretty good. Derek just thinks Kristen Bell is cute, and she is. One of Meg Cabot's (author of Princess Diaries and other chick lit) books, Queen of Babble, is being made into a movie and she is Lizzie, so I am pretty excited to see that too.

So even with work and school, I have had a great chance to enjoy the summer and have some fun! I know my posts are long, but I hardly ever post, so I have so much to say! Hopefully next time I won't wait so long.