Sunday, July 05, 2009

My Country 'Tis of Thee...

We had a delightful time of fellowship and fun at the Sanford family's annual 4th of July celebration! Unfortunately, due to the amount of rain that the state of Illinois received, they were unable to have the event outdoors at their home, so everyone ended up meeting at the Church building in Morton.

The evening began with prayer and food, much laughter and talking, some singing, some short speeches, a clip from the movie "John Adams" about the Declaration of Independence and a goofy song put together by a couple of us young people. :) It was a great time to remember our Country's founding fathers and just to bring to mind all that they went through to make us free. Not only that, but seeing the mercy of the Lord throughout history is incredible in and of itself. To think that through His providence we are here today- free!


After the get together at the Church a few of the families split up to go to different places to watch fireworks. I was able to head to the Coast Guard base with the Sanford, Candler and Castle families. From there you get an incredible (and close up!) view of the Peoria city fireworks. They were...unbelievably breathtaking. Oh, and as a side note, I decided that fireworks are officially romantic. Who could think that bright and beautiful lights exploding vivaciously into a nighttime sky isn't romantic? :) I love fireworks.

The evening came to an end rather reluctantly at around 11:30pm...an end to another exciting 4th of July. To God be the glory!!

So without much ado, here are a few photos of the evening for y'all enjoyment! (More should follow soon, I just have to beg some off of friends. :) We hardly took any with our camera.)

What is the 4th of July without watermelon?
Here's my sweet baby brother munching on some and enjoying it's crisp and juicy sweetness.


My wonderful parents posing for a quick picture before they get back to...



...grilling. :)

Dad- "Who's idea was it to bring Shish-Ka-Bobs to a 4th of July party?!?!"
Mom- "It's alright! They'll cook just fine! Let me show you..."

*grin* And they turned out extremely delicious too, if I do say so.



Enjoying some fresh (rainy) air before dinner!


Practicing for the goofy song that we performed. :)
Hopefully I'll get some video footage of it up here at some point...


Sisters.
Friends.
<3


Mr. Sanford, Mr. Ryken, Garrison and Jeremy kind of jumped in this picture. :)


A penny for your thoughts?

*smile*


In Christ Alone,

Jessica

9 comments:

Raquel said...

"Who could think that bright and beautiful lights exploding vivaciously into a nighttime sky isn't romantic?"

Of course bombs and artillery are very romantic (though only at night of course)! :-P

Ella said...

I never thought of fireworks as romantic.....but I think they can be...except when they go off at 2 in the morning and you want to sleep =)

You have posted twice in a short period of time. That is wonderful! And it is trumping me =)

Clare said...

Sounds like you've had a wonderful day of celebrations! Love your blog!

Jeremy Degenhart said...

The picture of your parents is priceless...

Kathryn Grace said...

Looks like you all had a great time! Too bad it rained... but it looks like you managed just fine in spite of it. :-)
And the grilling picture is too funny!

See you Saturday!!

Mrs. E said...

Lovely...
looks like you had a fabulous day!
All of the pictures are SO sweet!

Blessings~ Jen

Josiah David said...

Hey Jess, it was great being able to have you come with us to the base!

Oh, and by the way, it's really gross to take a picture of a mirror after someone has sneezed all over it. ;)

Hec @ 19 said...

Is it legal for it to rain on the 4th of July? That would be a big deal around here.

Jessica McDonald said...

Raquel, I guess everyone is entitled to there own opinion. :D

Ella, lol! That's true! :) Not too pleasant when you want to sleep!

Clare, Thank you!

SAAD, Isn't it? :P

Kathryn, It managed to work out thankfully! I'm just glad that we were able to do fireworks! :) It was great to see you today!!

Jen, We did! Thank you!

Josiah, Thank you for having me! It was amazing!

Mr H., Unfortunately, it is. :( Rain on the forth of July is kind of...un-festive. :)
Yes! Ben was saying how it's a miracle if it rains *once* in the summer over there! I can't imagine that!!