It went weeks with no rain and unseasonably hot temperatures. So when it decided to start pouring on the 4th of July right about when we were ready for fireworks, I didn’t complain. We even managed to sneak in some family pictures before the deluge.

The ones of the kids are basically our school pictures. Our home-school faculty members are also pictured. They have no sense of propriety. [shakes head]

New one for our mantle. Picture on the steps for traditions sake. I have one from every year we’ve lived here.

Burgers, Hot Dogs, watermelon from Garyn’s melon patch…doesn’t really get better. Normally our patriotic BBQ holidays involve lots more family and chaos. However, with my brother’s family having just welcomed baby #5 and my mom needing a breather after some medical stuff, we decided to stay home and have a quiet evening. Mom and my grandparents came to us and it was perfect. Rain storm and all.

A package of pops per kid is standard procedure, as are sparklers. Because of the rain we were confined to the porch and the sparklers smoked like crazy. So sparklers didn’t last as long as usual. When it was time for real fireworks Neil decided our dismantled piano hanging out in the trailer waiting for its trip to the dump was the perfect base.

Eventually he conceded victory to the rain and the show continued with the proper rain gear. Fountains and modest fireworks never get old for me.

After the first shrill Piccolo Pete, Tatanka opted to spend the rest of the fireworks show watching from the other side of our bed behind two closed doors.

So even though our puppy has yet to gain an appreciation for the birth of our nation and its accompanying festivities, we hope that your day was lovely and full of gratitude. Ours sure was.