ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL ANNUAL BASH!!

Happy 4th of July!
God Bless America & the Freedom we are so fortunate to have!!

With complete trueness to our moto in life to Live Well, Laugh Often & Love Much...I believe we succeeded that task just last night alone!! We really look foward to this night every year (despite the exhausting work that it takes to pull it off!)...it's ALL WORTH IT!! I have to say big kudos goes to Doug's buddy, Alex, who so kindly offered to bring over the 3 inflateables for us to use. Who knew the adults could actually have funner in those bouncy things than the kids?! (they might beg to differ; but, I'm sure every one of us adults who tried it were all laughing hysterically!!) Especially since by the time we got to them it was dark & really the only way of knowing who was there was by their blinky necklace & the dim lights outside...which then I also must give big kudos to Jeff & Carla (Jeff, "The Glowstick Man"), who also rocked with giving everyone there their own! It was actually pretty cool when we were out doing fireworks & seeing everyone's going off. Who says they are just for kids?!! :} And speaking of fireworks..wow, lots of people brought some & our show went on for a while!! I realize that gets a little scary every year with so many people; but, no injuries so we're good (well, none that I know of :}). And we can't forget giving kudos to Doug's brother, Greg, who does most of the BBQing for us every year! (when Doug had to be somewhere else! :}) It was nice to finally put the new patio to use! Despite a family dinner on it, that was it's first initiation! And it survived! We still have things to finish-the pond & posts will be next year's project; but, it's done for this year & we're loving it all ready! It's been a lot of work, but well worth it! The best part of the night though was just being amongst so many people we truly love & adore & mean a lot to us!! We are so grateful, and feel fortunate, to have so many that care about us as a family....we hope you know how much that means to us!! (even those of you who unfortunately couldn't make it...we missed you!). So, with so many pictures of the eventful night (yea, I tend to get carried away when it comes to pictures..they don't call me Ms. Kodak for nothin'! :}), I just picked out a few of the bunch to share here for now...should sum up the night for the most part! :}

The BBQ Masters at work!

Cute Lil' Jazzy Sleeping Away! (Amazing how babies can sleep through anything!)

Finally taking a little break with a few of the Jazzer-Babes!

So good to see Abrea again...who recently came home from Iraq this year! She is one example, of many, as to why we are so lucky to live in the country we do. We're proud of you 'Brea...thank you for serving our country! God Bless Our Soldiers!!

This was a "No, she's MY Shauna" moment (boy, do I feel special! :})

Our friends from Jazzercise: Shauna & Beth Livingston, and Beth's boyfriend, Tony. They are so cute! I was just enjoying watching them dance & their excitement for the night's events. She was so excited & he was such a gentleman too! Shauna is such a great mom to her too! I love having them at class!!

As fun as the night was, the hard part was saying Good Bye (for now, until they visit!) to our close friends, Natalie & Eric, who are moving to Portland this week. You understand life takes us all on our own adventures; but, it's always hard to see someone you care about so much go away! We'll miss you guys terribly!!

My sister, Sherrie, really thought I WANTED to give her a piggy back ride! :}

The 3 Inflateable Bouncy Things...certainly entertaining!

My dear friends: Connie, Laci & Abrea, Sherrie & I; having all kinds of fun in the bouncy thing!

Doug even got in for a bit!

SURE DO LOVE TIME WITH THE FRIENDS!!










IT'S GREAT TO HAVE SUCH AWESOME NEIGHBORS TOO!