every time a holiday comes around, i think it's fun to soak it in for all it's worth. i enjoy having many people to spend holidays with in many different places. i have my immediate family, my mom's side of the family, my dad's side of the family, friends at home, friends back in holland, and chris and his family. not only do i love seeing all of the people i love the most, but i also love celebrating important events!
this fourth of july holds more weight in my heart than past independence days. why? when i visited scotland, i saw the prisons of war in edinburgh castle. american soldiers were held in these prisons during the war for independence (revolutionary war) against britain, and some american soldiers carved their initials into the wooden prison doors. one solider even carved an american flag into the door, and it is still there to this day! seeing the pride of americans of the past (the first americans) was powerful. they fought hard for the freedoms that we have today, and i am thankful for that.
i am extra thankful to be home this independence day. while i was in england, i thought about the fourth of july, and i realized that the british don't celebrate it--it's just another day to them. ( i mean, they shouldn't celebrate it. this was just a "wow" realization for me). once i thought about this, i was excited to return home; to return to the comforts of home; to return to the comforts of america.
i am grateful to say that i got to spend this holiday weekend with the most amazing people in my life:
i started the weekend off on thursday by spending the afternoon with two of my greatest friends, alyssa and megan. ice cream, laughs, chit-chat, and panera.
on friday, my family had family day and we went to sterling state park and enjoyed a day at the beach- complete with bocce ball, reading, and napping. i finished the day off by watching dexter with my parents.
on saturday, i drove to devil's lake to the cox family cottage, where i enjoyed a lot of delicious grilling (thanks to the grillmaster ryan), giggles from the beautiful baby ruby, good conversations with amber and sarah, an extremely festive party at the sandbar (we didn't exactly enjoy this--we just viewed it from a distance), and boat rides and sunshine galore.
amber took a lot of great photos, so i stole some from her facebook:
stadium seating around the grill
playing beaver box (aka cornhole)
chris and ruby. aren't they the cutest?
on sunday, i awoke to a yummy french toast breakfast compliments of mama cox, swimming with all of the cox children, and more grilled foods. over the course of the weekend, chris and i were able to sneak away for a few minutes at a time and sit together on the boat and talk. these were some of my favorite moments. overall, i had a wonderful time, and i didn't want to leave.
i left, though, to drive home and enjoy some time with my own family. as soon as i returned home, i jumped back in the car with my parents, and we drove over to my grandma's house. most of my mom's family was over there, and we had a bbq (yes, more grilling), numerous types of salads, and delicious desserts. i had a beer with my dad and uncle ray for the first time. that was fun, although i did not enjoy the beer itself (miller genuine draft). when my uncle ray saw me open the beer, he hit his beer on the table and exclaimed, "this is awesome!" after dinner, i sat around with my mom and aunt bonnie for a long time, and we all talked. my cousins zack and kyle then began lighting off small fireworks: firecrackers, smoke bombs, fountains, etc. i had a lot of fun, as i always do, sitting with my family "oo"-ing and "ah"-ing at the fireworks.
i had a wonderful weekend, and i hope you all did too!
celebrate the freedoms and comforts that we have here in this country!
Love it! So fun to have you with us at the lake!
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