the 4th of july

This past Saturday was awesome! We took the kids to the annual 4th of July picnic and they (of course) competed in the mutton bustin'. For those of you who are uninformed about this type of thing you take a very large sheep, place it inside a chute next to an arena, and place a small child on it's back (my child, of course, wore helmets!). You then open said chute, and the small child hangs on for 8 seconds. Hopefully. We videotaped it again this year, and if I can ever find an adapter that connects the camera to my computer I will definitely share the joy with you. Until then, you'll just have to trust me. Carlye has maintained her position as the Grand Champion, although they did something different this year and had a boys champion and a girls champion. Guess who won for the boys? Nathanael! He was so proud! Noah did really well, too, but his little arms and legs just can't quite get wrapped around those sheeps big ol' bodies. We didn't stay at the picnic long because it was 106 degrees, so we loaded up and went swimming until it was time for the fireworks. It was a great day, and I loved spending it with my family! After the fireworks we all held hands and prayed for our troops. After all, while I was eating watermelon my brother in law was over seas, and my little sister and her girls were spending another day without him, and that is never far from my thoughts.