A Bittersweet July 4th

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July.  My family sort of celebrated a little early.  Our town had a city-wide celebration on the 30th.  This has become an annual event, except this year it was moved to a new location.  The new location was on the river and this year it included a boat parade and competition for the best decorated boat.  The fireworks display was great and the river backdrop made them truly spectacular to watch.  

Fireworks on the River

We decided to cook out on Saturday, the 2nd, with my hubby's parents.  

I downloaded this from a blog I follow, spray-painted an old frame red, and used it as my table centerpiece

 As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, my sister and her family have planned to spend 6 months in Ghana on a mission trip.  Their church hosted a farewell church service and reception for them on Sunday night.  It was so heartwarming to see the support and prayers lifted up for them.  So many of our relatives came, too.  It was so good seeing all of them and getting a chance to catch up.  We don't get to see each other nearly enough!  Needless to say, our 4th of July was pretty lowkey after all of those "celebrations."  They left for Ghana on the 5th and have hopefully made it there safe and sound by now.

Ghana Flag

You can follow their faith journey here:  www.fivefollowers.blogspot.com

Collin has returned from camp.  He had a great experience and loved being at the beach.  He didn't spend all of his money and came back with everything except his sandals.  I thought that was pretty good.  His pet-sitting business has been pretty successful this summer and he was able to use some of the money he has earned to replace them with some new flip flops.  He's headed out again this weekend for another retreat on the coast.

The hubby and I rode our bikes to the downtown farmer's market.  We had quite a productive morning.  I went specifically for this:

Mockingbird bread and my friend Dee Dee's pimiento & cheese

We ended up with this too:

A free mint planting and some sunflower seeds.  I have planted both.

Shrimp - Yummy!

Did you know that June is known as Cat Adoption Month?  I didn't know that either, but I am so glad that  my family adopted our sweet little kitten, Mia.  We should have adopted her in July because she has become quite a little "firecracker."  She is still taking all of this:

Mia's Meds - She is oh so much better!

Remember that 4th of July Centerpiece I mentioned earlier, she climbed on the table and broke all of my other cute decorations.  That framed picture was the lone survivor.  She has become quite inquisitive.  She is really smart and seems to know her name now, too.  I caught these rare photos of her actually being still:

Even if you missed Cat Adoption Month, any Humane Society is probably still bursting full of cats and kittens that need forever homes.  It's never too late to think about pet adoption!

My family attended The Buddy Holly Story at our local little theater.  Some of my older son's friends were in the production.  It was truly awesome.  I was pleasantly shocked that this was actually my hubby's idea!  It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon together as a family.

Well, I guess that about sums up what we have been up to lately.  I hope the rest of your summer is spent making fun memories with your family and friends.