The 4th With the Fam

Obviously I love the 4th of July and there are many reasons for that. Chief among them is the family. There are a few holidays designated to some of us as "our" holiday. My brother's is the 4th of July. He suddenly turns into this little boy again, eyes all a-glitter because of the fireworks. He grills up a mean BBQ, we play some volleyball or softball (which is a riot), we ride the 4-wheelers or Peter's go-cart, then the fire is stoked for s'mores, and as it begins to grow dark, out come the fireworks. Boxes and bags of them. I swear he budgets for this all year long! The show begins.

I've been banned from lighting anything or even being near anyone who lights anything. One sparkler bomb and I'm labeled for life.....the pop bottle rocket incident was NOT my fault--I was 100% the victim of men (read "boys") not thinking.

As I watch from a safely-distanced chair, I always reflect on how great it is to gather as a family, to really enjoy each other, uh, most of the time anyway, and to have somewhere I am free to be my weird self. And they mostly love me anyway. The thing about families is that there is so much history be it good, bad, or ugly. But coming through all those things together is what binds us forever.

I made an analogy to my Bible study girls last night that even though we might drive each other crazy, when the chips are down and things matter, my family is a tight unit. A hedge of protection around each other when necessary. And it's beautiful.

Erica asked Steve to do this weird face thing that is popular among her friends:

Peter and Edward heading to light something (sure, Peter gets to and he's only 10).

Erica - smiling because she can I guess. Or did I tell her to?

A coupe of shots of the cool fireworks: