Happy Belated Independence Day!

Sorry for the lack of photos – we all share the digital camera in my office (in our off hours), and my co-worker wanted to get photos of a red fox that seems to have taken up residence in his back yard!

On to my pictureless post...

We got to be very patriotic this year. On Tuesday night, we went with Mom and Gary to hear a patriotic concert at Sinnissippi Park in Rockford. It was part of the Rockford Park District’s Music in the Park Series. They have free outdoor concerts all summer long, and this one was exceptionally good!

At the concert intermission, we saw Jan and Terry Miller from our church. The six of us visited for a while, and Mom and Jan discovered they had BOTH gone to Lincoln Park Elementary School growing up. Jan was in the same class as my Uncle Ron. It is a small world.

Terry was slightly disappointed that the concert was patriotic. He had gotten his dates mixed up and thought it was the Bluegrass Band Night! But Jan said she was actually enjoying the patriotic music more than she probably would have enjoyed the bluegrass. And Terry said he thought it was a good concert, too, so I guess it worked out for everyone!

Mom’s Pastor’s wife was in the band, so there were a few people from First Baptist there, as well. It was old home week (for us Baptists that is)!

Brett had to work on the 4th, so I spent most of the day relaxing, reading my book, and baking. I made cupcakes, brownies, and homemade potato bread. Brett’s dad showed up at about 3:30 p.m. (thank goodness, I’d finally JUST gotten out of my pajamas).

Al and I watched Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown together. We had fun debating the cases. Normally, I HATE those shows as they are showboating, stupid displays of idiotic morons getting an undeserved five minutes of fame just on the basis of their own lack of common sense. But mocking them with Al was more fun than I think I’ve ever HAD with Al before!

After Brett got home, we headed over to Mom and Gary’s for a truly delicious dinner with just about ever picnic delicacy you can imagine – and the cupcakes were exceptionally excellent!

Then we all loaded into Al’s van to go watch the Beloit fireworks. Mom and I brought Skip-Bo to play while we waited for it to get dark. We joined the other hundreds of people on the green hills of the ABC Supply Company’s industrial park. It was really wonderful, and when the fireworks started going off, we were in JUST the right spot. They were so close we could almost touch them.

Speaking of the fireworks, the City of Beloit must have gone into hock for the display. It was without a doubt, the BEST display I’ve seen in my 28 years. There was a ground display (which I’d never seen before), and an amazing aerial display.

There were 3-D fireworks in the shape of Saturn, smiley faces, hearts, and the 13 original colonies. There were so many NEW kinds I’d never seen before. Truly a phenomenon!

We wrapped up with a tired drive back to Mom and Gary’s, then to our house, and then Al went on his way around 11:30 p.m.

It was a wonderful way to celebrate our independence – with family – and to remember our freedom in this country and our freedom in Christ!