The Almands: It's a "Nutty" Life!: 4th of July

I love the 4th of July! It may be in the top three of my favorite holidays. I have always had a strong patriotic pride and I'm not entirely sure why. My uncle has served numerous times over in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I am eternally grateful for the sacrifices he has made. That is the closest person to me that has served in the line of duty that I can think of. Even so, I am thankful for all the other men and women who have served and are serving our great country so that I can have freedom. May we never forget to also be thankful for the families of our troops too. They sacrifice more than we could ever imagine. So although we usually celebrate the 4th as a fun holiday to barbecue and relax outside, I hope we take time to remember why we get to do that, without fear.

Yesterday, we had a pretty chill day at home. Jody went fishing with his dad and the girls and I just stayed here and cleaned for our company coming that afternoon. My parents and my Papaw came and Jody's parents came up to eat supper and just spend time together. Jody smoked ribs and we had all the fixings. We were definitely not lacking in the food area! Of course, we never do. ;) While everything was cooking, we sat outside and let the girls play in the garden sprinkler. I think they had more fun with that than they would have with any other high dollar kids sprinkler. I love sharing the simple joys that I used to do when I was their age! It makes for the best memories. Soon all the food was done and we stuffed ourselves full, but still made sure we had room for chocolate covered strawberries and homemade chocolate ice cream! YUM! For the chocolate ice cream, I always use the Wendy's Frosty copycat recipe that has been floating around the Internet. It is delicious and so simple! Just a can of sweetened condensed milk, an 8 oz carton of cool-whip, and a half gallon of chocolate milk. Mix it all together and pour it in the ice cream machine! Seriously. SO GOOD!

My mom and my Papaw. Love them!

And my daddy! Love him too!

He's the best Pop-up!

After supper, Jody, the girls, and I headed to watch the fireworks at a church in the next town over. They put on a huge show every year and this is our third year to go. We love it because it's free, and so amazing! Last year and this year, we backed Jody's truck into a parking lot across the highway and sat in the back of the truck and watched them. It's a great view! A friend met us over there and we just sat in the back of the truck and visited, waiting on the show to begin. When it started, Brailyn was super excited, but Lainee was not so enthused by the noise. It is very loud. So I ended up sitting in the truck with her watching them through the window. She loved them in there. She kept saying "wow" and "wook mommy! firewooks! Pity(pretty)!" Any time I would open the door she would start whining and shaking her head saying "uh-uh!" Jody said Brailyn loved them. She kept her hands over her ears the whole time and Jody said she was yelling at them about how pretty they were. :) We had a great time as we do every year, and Lainee was asleep within about 10 minutes on the road.