Small Town Celebration

Happy Independence Day!

We had a few choices today as to how we would celebrate the 4th of July.  Most of my family is gathered at my parents' house for the traditional swim and grill celebration.  But being new to town we wanted to stick close to home and see how our small town threw a party.  

I love living where I do.  If I have not said it before, each week I am in this town I fall more and more in love with it.  I love the small community feeling.  Walking up to Main Street today and seeing our neighbors a few chairs down.  Seeing the older gentleman next to us yelling snide comments to the older men in the parade - I'm sure they are all part of the same "good ol' boys" club.  I love the mom and pop burger joint that uses only local ingredients.  We are enchanted by the family hardware store that is preparing to celebrate it's 100th anniversary in this town...in the same family.  The whole town speaks of family of closeness of loyalty and pride.  So add some patriotic sentiment to the already deeply rooted community and you have a full on celebration!

Papa Dan waiting for the festivities to start.  He's decked out in his patriotic hat!

 Kate made sure some of her special friends were dressed up and in good view of the show.

 Nathan had the best seat in the house thanks to Daddy! 

Can anyone guess what Nathan's favorite part of the parade was?  That's right the FIRETRUCKS!  And boy were there a lot of emergency vehicles.  The parade was actually named the Fireman's 4th of July Parade.  Trucks from a least four other towns in addition to ours were present.  And Nathan couldn't have been happier!  Seeing all the firetrucks, one after another, I couldn't help but reflect of the families in Prescott, Arizona, who are grieving the loss of their family and community.  So many people risk their lives so we can be safe and live peacefully and be free.  Thank you!

 Now Kate's favorite part was the horses on parade.  There were at least three or four different horse farms that participated.  There was also an Irish dance studio from Leesburg that made a little appearance.  Kate loved that too, and she immediately went into dance mode!

 I love this shot of the two kids holding hands.  

Proof that there are rare moments when they do not fight!

 There were so many interesting "floats" and vehicles.  But this wagon pulled by for draft horses was quite impressive.   The older rescue vehicles were pretty special too.

We hope you stay safe tonight.  And amidst the BBQ, corn on the cob, drinks, fireworks and parades we remember what a blessing it is to live in the United States of America.  Thank you to so many of you who serve our country and risk your lives so we can be free.  We are indebted.  For indeed: May we never forget that freedom is not free.

Saturday with Friends

My dear friend, Holly, was in town this past week visiting from Long Island, NY.  She came last weekend to see the new house and it was a loud, crazy afternoon as her four children and my two children ransacked the house and raised the roof with all the yelling. (Sorry Josh and Papa Dan!)  But since we don't see them that often it was worth any headache that came from the commotion.  Later in the week, Holly and I took in a late movie after we got kids into bed, and another night she came back to help me unpack my scrapbook room and set it all up!  (Love her for doing that!!)

So this Saturday we decided to get together one more time before she left for New York.  We opted to pack the morning with activity to avoid the mass destruction that occured weekend prior.  

We started our morning with a visit to the local farmer's market!  This was the 1st time I had been to the town's farmer's market since moving here.  It was nice and small, but it had a lot of variety. We bought some juicy cherries (Kate's pick), some garlic pickles for Papa Dan, some string beans, freshly made fettuccine and fresh bread.  I love local markets like this!  Oh, and we also grabbed a few chocolate chip cookies for road! (Nathan's pick.)

 Then we took the kids over to a neighboring town's park.  It was a perfect place to burn off a bundle of energy.  Kate loved the zip line and the swings.  Mia and Joel played on the slides.  Nathan adores the gravel box full of dump trucks.  Gabe was content eating grass and hanging on to his mama.  And Andrew, well he just chased the kids around the park and added to the fun!  (Andrew seemed to avoid the camera...so I don't have any shots of him...sorry, Holly.)

 Holly and Gabe!

 (Notice the matching dresses that Aunt Holly pick out for the girls!)

 After the park, everyone was hot and hungry.  So we had a picnic lunch on our front porch.  (I love my front porch!)  And then the kids played in our kiddie pool for a while.  There were lots of splashing and squeals of delight. 

We were sad to see everyone leave.  But we were so glad we got to see them so many times this past week.  Now if we could just get Uncle Neil to transfer his job to Virginia, life would be sweet!!

Moved in...again...and again...

This is what April and May looked like:  boxes, laundry and more boxes. We had project after project lined up to get ready to sell our townhouse in Maryland.  I am happy to say we are now on the other side the move.  We moved into our new house on June 1st.  And we still find ourselves in a world full of boxes and cardboard and bubble wrap all month long!

We had an amazing crew of guys that made our first move so easy!  My Guys Moving was fantastic if you need a recommendation for a moving company.

Our piano was the first piece of furniture placed in the new house!

Josh and I after we closed on the new house.  It was a super stressful week leading up to closing.  The mortgage company almost went back on their offer.  We had to to fight tooth and nail to get into this house.  But God was very good to us, and amazed us over and over again as we trusted in Him to make this happen. We even got in to the house less than a month before interest rates began to rise.  Never been more grateful for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage than I am right now!

Just when we felt settled in the new house, Josh took off to Washington State to pick up his Dad and a 26 ft. moving truck full of Dan and Ann's stuff.  They made it across country in record time - 4.5 days in a large, slow truck!  They pulled into town just in time to celebrate Father's Day weekend.

Thanks to my brother, Shaun, Josh and Shaun had the truck unpacked in one day.  It was a long, hot Saturday for both of them, but I am so grateful that they were able to unload the truck in one day.  Josh rested on Sunday and celebrated Father's Day with the kids at our local Sweet Frog yogurt shop.  And on Monday, my brother, Brian, helped Josh load up the 26ft truck AGAIN with the remains of our storage unit in Maryland.  So Monday our house was flooded with boxes for a third time.  I am so grateful to both my brothers for giving up their time and energy to help Josh.  Thanks guys!!  Beers are on us!

 I must admit I lost steam for a while and couldn't bare to unpack another box.  But after a week of staring at boxes I jumped in again and tackled a ton of boxes this week!  I'm happy to say that we are almost unpacked.  I still have the dining room to tackle this week.  A few boxes left of clothes for the  master bedroom closets, and well the front library which won't be unpacked for a while yet!  But the house is starting to take shape.  It was three moves in one, and I think we won't be needing a moving truck again for a LONG time - God willing.

Josh and I went out on a date night to celebrate the last unload of the truck.  We love exploring the Leesburg area.  We've found a few little independent restaurants that we love!  The mom and pop shops in our town are amazing and the selection of stores and restaurants nearby Leesburg makes up for anything we might lack right in town.  The longer we are here the more we love it! 

Home Sweet Home!

Firefighter Nathan Turns 3

These pictures are LONG overdue...it's kind of been a busy month at our place.  But we just got back from a friend's birthday today, and we were fondly recalling Nathan's birthday a few weeks ago.  It was such a fun morning.

Nathan celebrated his 3rd birthday at the Laytonsville Fire Department.  Boy! Did they do an outstanding job coordinating the party and creating fun activities for the kids.  Honestly, all I had to do was bring the cake!!  (Which was incredible thanks to Classic Bakery in Gaithersburg!!)

Here are some highlights:

When we first arrived Firefighter Greg greeted the kids and gave them awesome tattoos.  While Volunteer Linda welcomed parents and made our little guy, Chief Nathan, complete with a white fire hat and a LDVFD tee-shirt!

 Even Daddy got a tattoo - it was a purple salamander...not the manliest of choices.  Nathan stuck with a classic fire truck!

The kids got to see a bunch of different equipment, including an ambulance and a few engines.  Nathan could tell you the difference between each engine. And sitting up in that driver's seat was a highlight for him.  He was so proud of himself!

 

  

The kids got a tour of the entire station including the living quarters - very cool for them to see real firefighters eating their lunch.  Firefighter Greg did an excellent job talking about fire safety and the importance of trusting a fireman during a firefighter.  No need to be scared of the guys in the funny looking masks!

Then it was time for the kids to become firefighters and practice their skills.  Nathan was given (on loan) his own uniform as he lead his company of friends in some important exercises.  The most memorable one being using a fire hose to put out pretend flames in a play house.  Every kid got a turn with the hose.  It was so much fun!!

 

 

 

The kids had a lot of fun playing games too.  They had a relay race to see which team could transport more water to a "fire" like they used to in the old days of firefighting.   Team Nathan won - of course.  But both teams got prized because they did such a good job following directions and putting out the "fire".

 I must say the favorite game had to have been firetruck-firetruck...kind like our version of duck-duck-goose.  The kids ran and squealed and had a great time!

 

 

 

 Even fireman Greg got to play too!

Thank you Mrs. Linda and Firefighter Greg for an awesome birthday party that Nathan will never forget!

A Day in the Park

Literally we needed a day in the park today - a family day to focus on the kids and just being together.  It has been a crazy week for Josh and I.  Two weeks ago we found our dream house in Virgina.  So tomorrow our house officially goes on the market.  What is not being said is that everyday Josh and I have been busting our tails to de-clutter, pack, and do all those home improvement projects that we have put off!  We have been exhausted and haven't had a lot of extra time to focus on the kids.  After all, a trip to Home Depot everyday does not excite our Kate!

It was raining this morning, but this afternoon the sun came out and the weather was beautiful.  So we headed out for walk around the ponds that the kids love so much (and that we will miss when we do finally move).

Flowers are in bloom everywhere, and as I have instructed Kate to please stop picking the daffodils and tulips that are in bloom in our front yard (curb appeal is important you know!), I let her and Nathan have it with these pretty purple flowers we found on our walk.

 Kate loves the swing.  And as she clearly pointed out, Mommy does not push as high as Daddy.  (On purpose I might add.)  But today she got her thrill as Daddy let her fly through the air until her adrenaline fill had been met.

Nathan on the other hand would rather play with dirt - or mulch in this case.  Have at it big boy!

We are very excited about moving to a new house.  The new neighborhood has nice walking paths, but I must admit we have enjoyed our time walking around the ponds and exploring our little piece of nature just out our front door.