Happy July 4th!

july 4th is my favorite holiday {besides Christmas}.  my brothers get to come home from china so our entire family is crammed together in one house. it is amazing.  this year was a little different though. joplin was hit by a tornado on may 22nd so i had mixed emotions about my return.  it is one thing to see pictures of the effects on t.v., but quite another to see it right there in front of you.  it can't really be explained with words and pictures don't do it justice. i was only able to snap a few pictures of some of the destruction. the sad thing is, these pictures are not even close to the worst of it. throughout the week, when we would run to the grocery store, target, or the gas station, i could not help but wonder how many of the people i was surrounded by had lost a loved one or their entire home, or perhaps both.  several vehicles had taped huge posters on the back saying things like "stay strong, joplin," or "God bless joplin." there is a new unity in that town and i know God can bring so much good out of this. please keep praying for the people of joplin. their world has been turned upside down. 

here is part of our week in pictures...more to come... 

i made naomi a 4th of july dress using this tutorial. i couldn't quite get a good photo of it though.

eating one of her favorite snacks: black beans

her cousin, ali could not believe the foods she ate

 

we celebrated all of the summer birthdays 

4th of july celebration hat

its tradition in our family for all of the men to do a fireworks show. this year was the biggest one yet. it took them 2 hours to get everything set up and was a 52 minute show! i am not sure how they can top it next year.

pre-show family photo..all in our red, white, and blue

i was so glad to have close friends come

my favorite photo of the week. this was everyone's reaction to the very first firework. 

i had to include at least one fireworks photo

the crew that put on the show {complete with headlamps}

this is where the kiddos played most of the week

 it wouldn't be the 4th without a trip to the pool

here is a glimpse of the tornado damage. this used to be academy sports

there used to be homes here, but as you can see, they were completely flattened. notice the trees though...they are starting to have new leaves and produce life again. 

we headed back home to celebrate josh's bday since his is actually on the 4th of july

hanging with uncle joe

enjoying the celebration

but in the end, it was talking tom on the ipad that captured all of their attention

stayed tuned...more to come!