4th of July!

Celebrating the 4th of July!!!

On Tuesday(3rd) Walt & I loaded the truck with the bunk bed to deliver to Wendy's and the crib and other odds & ends going to Win, Mona & baby Charleigh in Augusta.  Garrett, Megan and I were off ....  We made it to Evans Ga. (just outside of Augusta).

Garrett & Megan with Charleigh

Charleigh turned 1 on June 30.

Megan loved tending Charleigh.

Garrett holding Charleigh

Checking each other out....

Win, Mona & Charleigh Adams

We unloaded the things for Win & family, borrowed a tarp (as storms were threatening) and continued on to Wendy's. Thank goodness we borrowed the tarp - Thanks Win!  We went through several heavy duty thunder storms but made it to Wendy's between showers, albeit somewhat damp, unloaded the bunk bed and Meggie-Moo and then headed on down to deliver Garrett home. We arrived at Amber's around 10 pm -- I was pooped!

Planned to make a caramel cake..... didn't happen!  Went on to bed. 

Boo & her crew got up and went to the Peachtree City 4th of July Parade!

An Oliver Family Shot!

Then we all loaded up and went over to my sister Karla's house in Hiram.

The Houser Family Shot!

I snagged a family pic of Wendy & her crew too!

Many thanks to Karla for hosting the event.  She outdid herself with the preparations and decorations. It was a very patriotic soiree' and I think everyone had a great time.

 Charleigh Ann was excited to see Aunt Amber.

Cousins Nathan & Jacob

 our gymnast were showing  off     their splits

Caleb                           Charleigh

yum ~ yum ~ yum !!!

Some of the kid-o's

(I will have to edit this & upload more pics later -- it is taking FOREVER to load pics tonight!

you can check back later if you want to see some more "family" pics )

The 4th has always been a special & favorite holiday of mine even though it creates in me a tremendous amount of stress & conflicts.  I do love this holiday. The 4th had such value to both my parents and my grandparents - it was almost a revered holiday. I love what it represents, the values: LOVE of Country, LOVE of Family, LOVE of Moral Values. (I just have trouble resolving the concept to the reality of  the 3.) There are several things to celebrate all centered around the 4th - The end of June has BD's of a daughter (June 24) & my 1st grandchild (June 24) then there is my father's birthday (July 1, 1923), my wedding anniversary (July 7, 1977), my sister's wedding anniversary (July 1), a granddaughter's BD (July10) & my niece's birthday (July 15). My mother's family reunion (Pittman) is always held the 1st Sunday of July. This is a lot of celebrating!

My personal conflicts were rearing their ugly heads and I had trouble deciding what to do, about what I was going to do for the holiday.  I did not attend the Pittman Family Reunion this year -- My aunt's funeral was the Thursday before the family reunion and I attended it, allowing me to see a good number of the family - I had 2 of the grands (Garrett & Megan) spending a "week" with me to keep me busy and my feelings are still bruised from some issues regarding my mother's funeral so I decided not to attend. I am still working on the forgiving of some (and whether they were intentional or not) very painful actions by many members of the family  -- Forgiving is often a hard issue for me to resolve. I know that "as I forgive" will be the way the Lord forgives me (per the Lord's Prayer) and I seek constantly the ability to "forgive all" but I am not there yet.... I usually get there after a while but the Lord has to work hard on me to get me to that point...... My parents would roll over in their graves to know I air such "dirty laundry" but hey, it is what it is and my feelings for this holiday are always turbulent. I do try to put on my big girl panties and deal -- Happiness is a choice. I choose to try and be happy. I did go to Hiram and spent time with my sister, Karla, and her family. My girls, Amber & Wendy, had planned go - they don't get to see their cousin Tamara often & try to see her whenever they can - so wanting to spend the day with them along with "making mama & daddy happy" I headed to Hiram.  Karla had a wonderful day planned and I think everyone had a really nice time.

I hope anyone reading my blog had a great time celebrating the 4th and now think it is time to...

                                                        Wish you the Lord's Blessings and go have a cuppa!
                                                                                 Signe is signing off.......