Happy Birthday America

I love 4th of July. I am a big fan of all things nostalgic,so to me, the 4th means family, food and fireworks. That's exactly what we had yesterday and it was great! The weather was really good, 100% humidity
and 95 degrees is always better than rain on the 4th. I hope everyone got to see the space shuttle launch, it was a pretty special moment to be able to share that with the kids on this holiday. We started watching it on TV and then we all raced outside to see if we could see it in the air. We caught a small glimpse before it went behind the only cloud in the sky. We hung our flag in the front yard and got ready for the big party. We had lots of friends and family over, a little over 20 people and ate and ate. Mike was the grill master and everyone brought a side dish. Bella and Preston loved the old fashioned drinks in a glass bottle
( and still have the orange mustaches to prove it). I made ice cream cones for everyone to have while we watched the fireworks but I think the biggest hit was Mom's fruit salsa. She cuts up fresh strawberries, kiwi, rasberries and apples and mixes it with brown sugar and strawberry preserves and serves it with cinimon sugar tortilla chips, yes I am drooling while writing. Jamie made spinish puffs and these fresh apple pie squares that I couldn't stop snacking on. Needless to say I had to get up this morning and walk 4 miles just to ease the guilt of last night. Our neighbors, Pam and Alan brought over some oohs and ahhs fireworks- this picture of one of them we did in the back yard ( and Alan still has the burnt thumb to prove it). I also have to give a big high 5 to my volleyball team- Dad, Beth and Preston- we would have won if the other team weren't 3 guys, two of them over 6'5. My knees are fine today, just green from the grass stains! Over all it was a great 4th at the Updegraff household. I'm sure we will do it again next year and hopefully for years to come. I hope everyone had a great holiday.