Friday, July 5, 2013

let freedom ring

Tim and I like to keep things exciting.

We packed up our little apartment, moved everything into our new house [with lots of help!], cleaned the old apartment, fixed some sprinkler-heads in our new yard, and drove out to California for the Fourth.  All within about a week.

It's been a busy time 'round these parts, but we did it!  You know, except for the unpacking part.  Baby steps, friends, baby steps.

It was a fun introduction to home-ownership when the ceiling fan in our room broke the night we moved in on one of the hottest nights so far this year.  Sometimes I think God chuckles down from heaven when we think we've got it all figured out.  Ah, small joys.

Anyway, the Fourth.  It's a tradition in my family to celebrate Independence Day at my grandma's in California.  It's lovely.  Great company, beautiful weather, tasty food, and endless fireworks.  Really.  It's the night after the Fourth and it still sounds like a war zone outside.  And the dogs run around like chickens with their heads cut off after each and every bang.

It was a nice change from last year, to be sure.  Last year I spent almost the whole day throwing up from morning sickness.  And after an entire morning of nauseousness, I finally decided that a Sprinkles cupcake sounded good and made Tim drive me the 30 minutes out to Scottsdale so that I could partake.  As we sat in the parking lot outside Sprinkles, my stomach suddenly told me that a cupcake no longer sounded good but that the frozen yogurt next door did.  The moral of the story is that it's always a good idea to make your husband drive 25 minutes longer than was ultimately necessary to fulfill your pregnancy craving on the Fourth of July.

This year I got to hold the real deal.  The sweet baby that made all that nauseousness worth it.


Yes, Tim and I are wearing matching shirts in true senior-citizen fashion.  Three dollars each at Old Navy.  Holla!


Look at that face.  Just look at it.




My, oh my, has she been full of smiles this trip.  It's the best feeling in the world seeing that little face light up.

My contributions to our feast were the Devey Cilantro-Jalapeno Dip, sprinkle-covered cake-mix cookies, and some festive strawberries I saw on Pinterest.  They, um, didn't turn out quite like the ones on Pinterest but they were still cute.  Good enough for government work.  Maybe I'll show you the pictures once I find the cord to transfer them from Tim's phone.  Until then, exercise your imaginations.


Ellie, Tim, and my cute Grandma.  Seriously, does she even look old enough to be a grandma, let alone a great-grandma?!


The family dog begging for food.  But we don't spoil dogs around here.  No siree.


My mom, beading.  Her newest obsession.


Ellie and Tim enjoying a survival show together.  Who knew such an, ahem, interesting show could be so entrancing for a four-month-old.


Tim holding our little sweetheart during the fireworks.  She liked the pretty lights but as soon as they started crackling too loudly she would shake her head back and forth and then start crying.


My dad, uncle Paul, and grandma.


My aunt Ginny and brother Eric.  Ginny was our Master of the Fireworks.  And Eric...well let's just say that his face doesn't normally look like that.  Enough said.

Today was spent trying to find curtains for our new house and a bedspread for our new bed.  It always makes me feel strangely stressed trying to figure out exactly what I want.  I'm not very good at making decisions.  But I love it too.  It's a love-hate thing.  You know how it is.

Hope you all had an amazing Independence Day!  It is truly an anniversary to celebrate in the biggest way.

1 comment:

Suget said...

Sounds and looks like you guys had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. Ellie is growing!! She is so cute!
I am digging the matching shirts too (: