freedom

I use this title somewhat loosely. It means a great deal of things this month. We had a wonderful 4th of July by starting out with a traditional Texas BBQ with some of the 'locals' here and I tried my hand at a red-white-blue striped jello and rice krispie treats sparklers. We had a great time. That evening we headed out to Galveston for another dose of the parade. It was way more crowded this year and way more interesting but we all had a great time. Waiting for the parade.

 After the parade, waiting for the fireworks.

 I have to express our further events for that evening. We got into our first car accident as a family. Nate ran a stop sign made invisible by the many long hanging trees on the island. We were going maybe 20 mph and ran into the front wheel of a car going the other way. Lucky for us, we have fantastic insurance and accident forgiveness. We didn't pay a dime. No one was hurt... really. We're still not really sure who was in the car and if they were really hurt or not, but anyhow, it doesn't matter. We definitely have freedom from our would-be bills and freedom from our perfect record. :)

We took the kids to the Children's Museum on a whim and we had a fabulous time before heading out to Grandma's house.

 You know it's getting close to the end of summer when this is happening at the same time.

 We went to Grandma's house to go to a wonderful wedding put together for my beautiful cousin. She's amazing and one of the best people I've ever met.

 This was the one picture I got to be in. :)

 The sealing was really something special. It focused specifically on music in the home. I'd really been struggling recently with the idea of forcing Aria to practice every day and wondered if I should make it a requirement. Now I know. Now I know. And now they know... Here they are 'flying' out of the temple.

 for more beautiful pictures, check my photo blog for all the glorious beautiful pictures. Here's my favorite of the bunch.

 This was our favorite place at the reception, 2nd only to the food table, right in front of the fan.

 My brothers think they're cool, especially with the pink back pack.

 I thought this was a really cute idea. I hope to do it someday in my house.

 Loved this picture of my grandparents checking out the 'heritage' table where they were featured. Such a cute idea.

 Saving the top of the cake. My beautiful pregnant sister. So happy.

 Some people say we are forced to make decisions. We are not forced. We make decisions in accordance with the results that we want. When we bind ourselves to each other we are free to love to our heart's content. I get to love my spouse for an eternity. I'm grateful for the freedom I have to do so. This was just a great reminder of that freedom.

Hope you all had a great July!