INDEPENDENCE DAY

Happy 4th of July!!!

We started the day off by throwing Mia around in the pool. Then we all got ready and ran errands. Elijah spent some of his birthday money on Guitar Hero, and we got a Wii for him to play it on. Then we went to the Stater Bros and all went grocery shopping together (this is alwys fun -Because I have so much "help"). After we got home we played the Wii and hung around the house together. The 4th stuff actually started around 10:00am but it was well over 100 degrees out, so we opted for AC until later. After an early dinner of hot dogs we headed for the stadium at University of Redlands. This is a beautiful campus and it was fun to get to check it out. After parking about a mile away (OK not really, but with three kids, a cooler, a quilt and three flags with pointy ends...) we arrived at a crowded stadium. We spread out the quilt, enjoyed each others company, watched some amazing skydivers and huge planes flying over, had a healthy dose of family conflict and watched some spectacular fireworks.

LAX crazieness

We were supposed to take my mom to LAX today. Of course this coincided with a crazy man claiming to have a bomb. This resulted in a little bit of controlled but hectic chaos at LAX. We would have made the flight if it hadn't been for several mitigating circumstances, such as the first person we encountered having NO IDEA WHAT SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!, and mom not being physically able to book it to her gate :). OK, so she got to spend another night with us. Lucky her. Not to mention that I had been out of town for the past two days taking a course for a certification I had gotten in Tennessee, but California would not recognize, AND the title company wanted to close today!!!!!!! Anyway, not much going on here. We DID have a wonderful visit with mom this week.

We have big plans for the weekend, a big 4th celebration here n Redlands and Brandon's first official holiday weekend. We plan on visiting Milton Vincents church in Riverside again Sunday, I start work Monday--And oh yes-- The kids (Elijah and Mia) did get their Transfer to Kingsbury (Which I was told would never happen--Isaiah 40:31) so everyone will be on the same schedule. Thank You God!!!!

We return to LAX tomorrow to Attempt to get mom home to her Hubby, in addition to tackling other above mentioned tasks. Its all in His hands, so what gets done does and what doesn't apparently is not supposed to.

Thanks to all who are praying for us, your prayers are coveted and much appreciated. Miss you all so much, please come visit. Talk to Brandon's parents (Marcia and Roger) or my mom (Chelsea) if you need to find out how much fun it is (as long as no one tries to terrorize the the airport you are departing from). I will say I would much rather be a little inconvenienced than to have to deal with the tragic consequences of a violent attack. How full of Grace and protection He is -- He truly has laid His hand upon us, right down to a flight number.

Good night, sleep tight.

All of Us.