Ten Already?!?

Ryan and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary today. I seriously can hardly believe that it has been that long already. We were talking with his Grandma Elle about it this past weekend and her and Grandpa Tom would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last week. When I hear that, I think ten years is hardly anything! I found a few snapshots from that fun day. It's always fun to look back and remember that day. It kind of makes me wish we could do it all again.:)

Happy Birthday, America!

Most of our 4th of July activities were done on the 3rd of July instead. We attended church in the morning, the parade in the evening and some fireworks that night. It was a fun-filled day! I put the pictures on here in the order I wanted, but blogger has not been the easiest to work with lately and switched them up. We might hit some more fireworks tonight, depending on the kids attitudes! Two late nights in a row might make for a long week for mommy.:)

Jason and Kristin's family and some of our friends from church came and watched the parade with us. Lisa and Kurtis and kids were supposed to come up as well, but they had sick kids and couldn't make it.:(

Luke waiting patiently for the parade to begin.

I was the only one not wearing patriotic colors for church that morning, so I got a picture of them looking good.:)

This was the theme of the day, especially for Drew. When he would see a firetruck coming down the street he would cover up his ears until it was safely past. It makes it tricky to gather candy when you're standing that way though!

We did some sparklers before we headed out to the fireworks display.

The kids were ready to gather candy. Luke and Reagan ended up with a gallon size ziplock bag filled with candy. Ugh! I combined Drew & Lauren's and they have that much as well. I'm pretty sure we'll still be eating that by the next 4th of July!

My little firecrackers.
I asked them to take a picture together. After the first shot (above), I told Lauren to put her skirt down. Instead, they proceeded to lift their skirts and shirts shouting "fireworks" and laughing hysterically.

This was actually the pre-show fireworks display. A big group beside us lit off a ton of huge fireworks of their own. Drew wasn't a big fan. I'm pretty sure being tired wasn't helping. When the real display started though, he didn't mind the noise and started to get more into it.

Luke wore Ryan's flip flops while we did sparklers. It reminds me of how quickly they grow up and how soon his feet will fit into these shoes!

All of our kids have their own creative side, and they've been coming out a lot this summer. Luke loves his Legos and does a great job of building with them, sometimes using their designs and many times making his own. Reagan loves to draw and perform. She has been having a lot of art shows lately (the picture below shows one she created with her friend) and dance shows. The couch in the playroom is her stage. She sets up chairs for the rest of us and Luke is usually the D.J. Drew & Lauren's creativity comes out in their 3 year old play. They also love to help me "create" in the kitchen. They're always the first to pitch in when I'm baking cookies. They like to wear their aprons like me. Aunt Lisa made Lauren her very own apron, so now they both have one. The twins have also gotten pretty good at getting themselves dressed. Drew sometimes comes down with his own outfits on, because he is able to reach his summer shirts. The rubber rain boots are usually part of the ensemble.:) It's fun to see their personalities shine through and think about how they might use these creative sides in the future.

The Toothfairy strikes again

Reagan lost her first tooth a couple of weeks ago (I'm a little behind!). She was super excited but terribly nervous when it came close to falling out. She thought for sure it would hurt and I tried to convince her otherwise.:) She finally wiggled it enough with her tongue for it to fall out....and she found out I did know what I was talking about!