The Lutheran church worships in such a different way than I am used to, but I love it! It's very traditional and ritual-driven. I wouldn't want to worship that way all of the time, but I enjoy it when I get the chance. It is so reverent. It was a nice change for one Sunday.
After church we headed back out to the farm for lunch, dinner, and 4th of July festivities. We had an wonderful time hanging out with family. And my artistic husband got some fabulously awesome photos!
Runnin' from Uncle Jason
Playin' in the backyard with Daddy! I love their backyard! It's a wonderful place to play with a great porch to sit and relax. Not sure I appreciated that when I was a little girl ... but I do now.
I love this picture!
We were actually able to get Jack to sit in one of the train cars for a minute or two ... just long enough to get a couple of pictures!
Another awesome shot of Jack and the West Texas horizon. I love that you can see the sprinklers in the background.
View from the front porch! It was hot ... but a gorgeous day!
Jack "driving" the tractor again! His hair is out of control!
"What's this knob do?"
Autumn and Allie playing hopscotch ... great action shots!
Jason LOVED this barbecue sauce! He took a picture so he could remember the name of it once we got home. Turns out ... Aunt Carla had an unopened bottle that she insisted we take home with us! Jason was ecstatic!
The fourth of July festivities included a pinata for the kids, fireworks, and sparklers. We figured the pinata was a bad idea for Jack. We knew he wouldn't want to give up a big stick to hit things with ... so taking turns wouldn't have worked out. That was fine by him. He just did his own thing most of the time anyway.
Happy Fourth of July!! Grandma had these cute little flags in the front yard. Before we left, she gave Jack one to take home. He loved it!
We decided Jack was doing well enough that we would try to stay through the fireworks. It doesn't get dark until really late in West Texas. I think it was after 9:00 before they started the fireworks (keep in mind that Jack is usually in bed by 7:30 or 8:00). My Uncle Steve and his kids Daniel and Chelsi lit off the fireworks in front of the barn. The first one was a fountain that lit up but stayed on the ground. Jack really liked that one. He was sitting on Jason's lap doing the sign language for "more." But the next one was a big huge one that was loud and flew up in the air. At that point he freaked out! He didn't like the noise at all! I had fingernail marks in my back for days! So I took Jack in the house and we played with Brinkley who is only 4 months younger than Jack and was afraid of the fireworks too.
After the fireworks, we decided it would best to get Jack back to the hotel and in bed. He had reached his limit after a crazy, busy weekend! So we went to the barn to say our good-byes. The older kids were getting ready to light some sparklers and Uncle Steve, Chelsi, and Daniel had a few more random, simple fireworks they were firing. Jason was getting something out of the car with my sister-in-law JoEllen when one of the fireworks went astray and headed straight for them. It went under the cars and bounced off Jason's leg! Luckily, it didn't hurt Jason, JoEllen, or the cars! Jason was so funny. He came out from behind the car with his hands in the air saying "I'm OK. I'm OK!" He had a great sense of humor about it and everyone laughed!
It was hard saying good-bye. The time flew by and I don't feel like I got to talk to everyone as much as I wanted to. But it was a priceless time with family ... and even though it was a long drive and was exhausting for all three of us ... it was worth it!
We left out around 7 a.m. the next morning and headed home!
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