Fourth of July Blast!

I have found that when you are married to an American solder and live 10 miles from the largest military base in the world, Fourth of July is a pretty big deal. However, it was a big deal at our home for another reason, too.

Matt and I decided a couple of months ago that we wanted to have a few people over for this holiday. Maybe his mom and dad, a few friends, whatever. Well, as time went on, that number grew and grew, until the doorbell rang this Saturday morning and in walked 20 people!

It was so fun! We had most of Matt's family drive up from San Antonio and Fredericksburg, and some friends of ours from down the street. We had a huge BBQ, water balloon fight, birthday party for Nathan (Matt's sister's husband was born on the 4th) and went to a carnival and one of the most fantastic fireworks shows I have ever seen. Even though it got pretty hot--around 103--it was so fun to be with everybody and just enjoy our freedom to party! :)

Matt's little sister, Sarah, enjoying the plethora of food. Everybody brought something with them, so there was plenty to eat. Yummy!

Some of the cousins.

Bennett in his Fourth of July outfit with his cousin, Kendall. Looking at this picture, you would never guess that Bennett is actually a week and a half younger than this petite little girl! It brings to mind Jaba the Hut...

Eating on the back patio.

Matt and I rented two long tables and a bunch of chairs for everybody to use. We also had a blast buying out the Fourth of July isle at Wal Mart. I justified the money we spent by telling myself I was just being patriotic.

We all had hamburgers and hot dogs, but Matt insisted Nathan have a steak for his birthday. I also insisted he wear a sash and a crown all day. I tell you what, he must really love Bekah to have married into this family. :)

Cousins in the pool...each with their own little personalities.

Bennett escaping the heat in his turtle.

Matt has also been working and working on his "secret project" all week to get it ready for this day. And although it's not quite done (we still have some of the roof and the painting to do) the tree house was a huge success among the little guys. I will post more stuff about this later.

Wayne helping the girl team during the water balloon fight. It was girls (and Matt) in the tree house vs. boys on the ground...the boys didn't stand a chance, but it was pretty entertaining to watch.

Sarah, Matt, and Jake at the carnival on base. (Oh-My-Goodness, was it HOT!!!)

Me and one of my cute nieces, Emma, rode the merry-go-round together. This was her first time doing it "without help" and she was very proud of herself.

After the carnival we celebrated Nathan's birthday with presents and cake. Here he is blowing out the candles on the cake Mary made for him.

Most people who came left around 5:00 that night, but Bekah and Nathan decided to stay and we went to the fireworks show on base together. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! They know how to put on a show here! We could have gone to a Derk Spently concert too, but we were all a little too tired to fight the crowd, so we just parked in the truck and watched and listened from a distance.

It was a fabulous weekend, and I was so happy everybody could come! Sunday afternoon I think it all caught up to us though, and me and Bennett took a long nap while Matt, who never stops, made banana bread. What a great life! Happy 4th of July!!