It's the 4th of July!

Years ago when DK and I were newly dating, we spent the 4th of July with David, Kim and a couple other friends. To this day it's referred to as the best 4th ever because we had no plan but ended up on bikes darting all around downtown, layed in the grass on the lawn of the bayou near the Sabine St. bridge watching fireworks directly above us and wound up on a balcony with a view of the skyline at one of our favorite haunts in Houston listening to the best juke box in Houston. Ever.

It wasn't too much later that David and Kim moved to Malaysia. Since then we've always dreamed of either recreating that night years ago or even trying to top it.

Last year David and Kim moved back from Malaysia... but Kim and I were super pregnant. I think we watched the fireworks on tv? But I don't even remember.

And this year was going to be special regardless as it was the girl's first 4th of July ever! Kim and I spent a few hours each decorating the girl's individual bike trailers for our neighborhood's annual 4th of July bike parade. They both were styling and the parade was a blast! DK was actually supposed to work that morning but his shoot was cancelled at the last minute so he scrambled to get his bike and costume ready for the parade. My brother David showed up as Abe Lincoln and everyone wanted their photo with him! And wouldn't you know it, after the parade, awards were handed out and to our hysterical laughter and amazement, Second Place in the adult category went to "The Guy With The Huge Flag" (DK) and First Place, naturally went to Abe himself.

Kim and I were thrilled for our winning husbands yet naturally a little bitter over the fact they'd spent 5 minutes each on prepping. And our fancy bike trailers didn't even place. (The jury is still out on whether or not there was even a category for us, so we decided that we tied for First Place.)

From there we relaxed and watched movies at Dave and Kim's while chowing down on burgers and mom's famous potato salad and apple strudel. Later on after long afternoon naps, we all met up again and drove to our church's new building near downtown and watched the downtown fireworks from there while DK was on the roof shooting footage for the church. He said from there he could see fireworks at the Galleria, Miller Outdoor and a few other places. I love this city!

It was an incredible day with my family and I feel so blessed to have them all in my life, especially now that Jordan and Amelia are part of our world now. Those two make everything new, exciting and absolutely fulfilling.

Hope your 4th was the best ever!