July 4th Birthday Celebrations

I hope you had an enjoyable 4th of July.  As I mentioned a few posts back, our youngest granddaughter, Ellie, was born on the 4th of July and she became a teenager this year.  In the blink of an eye 13 years have passed.

Her aunt and uncle hosted the birthday celebration because Ellie's twin cousins turned 13 on July 5th.  The weather was nice until around 4:00 o'clock, then it rained for a half hour or so and cleared up again.  

Below is our birthday girl...

With 22 first cousins [ranging from 22 years old to 7 mos. old], plus all the adults, there was lots of activity - pool fun, trampoline fun [for the younger kids], cornhole fun [two sets of cornhole boards], basketball, and for those of us who were less energetic, we sat and visited or watched the Detroit Tiger ballgame on the patio TV until it was time to eat, and what a huge array of food there was.   My contribution was a pan of macaroni and cheese.

~ Landon and Izzy ~

~ Izzy with the youngest cousin, Baker ~

But the most exciting activity - at least for the three birthday girls - was opening presents.

The birthday girls - Ellie, CeCe and Carmela

They made a wish and blew out the candles!

~ Daughter-in-law, Samantha, and Izzy ~

There were fireworks later that night, but since I had to get up for work on Saturday morning, we left around 8:00 o'clock.  It was a great family fun day, but sadly, following all the 4th celebrations, tragedy struck Kerrville, Texas when the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in 45 minutes and took the lives of many and destroyed homes. Our prayers are with all those who lost children and loved ones.  I can't begin to imagine their grief and the anxiety for those who are still missing relatives.