His first Fourth

 His first Fourth of July as an American Citizen!

His first Fourth of July Celebration!

It was definitely one to remember.

Thanks to his brothers.

They begged and reminded me to sign us up for the celebration at Peaceful Way this year.

Peaceful Way is property owned by a local family.  A very sweet local family with hearts for the Lord and hearts for their neighbors.....all over the world.  They open their property to the public twice a year for fun and fellowship.  And to raise awareness about widows and orphans.  And to speak the Good News. 

We drove up around 3pm, parked our car and staked out our spots.  We dropped donations off in the Remember Them box, and handed off our dessert and side dish contributions, because that was all this day cost us.  Which is totally unbelievable! 

We enjoyed eating with many good friends!



Isabel reconnected with an old friend that moved away from our neighborhood.

And hung out with one of her current besties!

Getting ready to head into the pond for some extreme fun!

Parker and Noah got to hang out with many of their homeschool and youth group friends......doing what teens do.  Which mostly means leaving mom and dad in the dust, sneaking sodas, eating your body weight in free BBQ, spending hours in the pond, shooting black powder guns and....

Taking helicopter rides!  Yes, that is my boy in the bird.  I know this for absolute sure....because I have eyes like a hawk for my kids.   They may have thought that I didn't know what they were up to, but had one eye on each one at all times.....which of course meant I had to employ the eyes of several other watchful parents eyes in the back of my head for the day.....you know, since I have 5 kids and appear to only have 2 eyes. 

And the littlest Gours?

They too had new experiences!  This is the first time Asher has seen a pony up close and personal.  His first pony ride ever! And, in Asher style, he loved every minute! 



This is not Claire's first pony ride because she rode one three years ago when we came out to PW for a homeschool event.  But, she was much more sure of herself this time.  Just look at that smile!  They also got to swim in the pond, kayak with their awesome Daddy,  play on the amazing playground and in the spray pool.

We ended the day on the lawn watching a magnificent display of fireworks that would rival the ones at Waterfront park or the baseball stadium!  Plus we had live Bluegrass music.

It was an incredibly fun day!

And I am glad the boys pestered us into doing it!