Moments {7.4.14}

Happy Fourth Of July Weekend!

We have had a great week this week that even included some travel to visit my family.

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays.

My Great Grand Pa Bradford had a creek that ran through his land and when I was a little girl, we went to the swimming hole {Steep Holler} almost every Sunday afternoon.

But, on the 4th of July?

Well, that was special!

All 7 of my Grand Pa Bradford's children {which included my Pa} went to the creek.

With all of their children and grandchildren.

And in the 10 years that I knew my Great Grand Pa -- he always went, too.

It was a fun family reunion.  It was swimming in the cold water. Eating Hot dogs cooked on a fire. It was homemade ice cream and my Grannies lemonade.

 It was 1st, 2nd ,3rd cousins and sometimes 4th and 5th cousins. 

It was sliding down the sliding rock.

It was hours of family fun followed by the hike back out of the holler which left us all wishing we could go back and jump in the icy water.

It was evening parties and fireworks with more family.

It was my second favorite holiday of the year.

It still is......

And though the way we spend it tends to be quite different -- Though, one day I will take my kids back to the creek !! - it is still a favorite holiday of mine and it just doesn't feel the same without my family.

This year, I got to see a lot of my family and for that I'm thankful.

Without further ado, here are the moments I hope to remember from this 4th of July week.

Saturday, June 28, 2014 --

  After the long week of VBS, we did absolutely NOTHING of importance on Saturday.

And it was lovely.

We slept in and ate breakfast at 10:30AM.

I cannot tell you the last time we did that!

Late in the afternoon, hubby got out his clubs and was hitting balls in front yard.

Which led to putting lessons while wearing your skating helmet.

177/365......lessons in putting....

We ended our day of doing nothing with a movie.

It really was a lovely day and rejuvenated us for the upcoming week.

Which was  a good thing because it was ( of course) busy.

Sunday, June 29, 2014 -- Sunday was church day and then we ran some errands before I went back to church for a bible study and then we went out for supper.

We had a good day and I snapped this shot of my sweet, tired boy as we were about to get him all tucked in.

178/365.....He's so grown up.

Monday, June 30, 2014 -- started with a run!  For the first time in about two weeks I laced up my running shoes and went running early Monday morning.

After the running, I got ready and headed off to work.

Hubs and I both worked a lot on Monday and then it was off to get Lillie to piano lessons and me to my evening bible study.

Not a lot to get a picture of during this day.

I did snap this shot of Miss Maggie as she was about to head to bed on Monday night.

179/365.....My sweet middle daughter - Maggie.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014 -  This was another busy morning of work for me. Trying to get everything done before heading out of town.

Once I finished all of the work things I needed to, I had some errands to run.

I took these three shopping for the afternoon.

{Maggie and Lillie were waiting to head off for a sleepover with a their friend, Emma}

We shopped til we dropped.
Literally.

By the time we got home we were exhausted.

The site of my mini-chandelier still makes my day, though!

180/365..... so pretty.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014 -- We headed out bright and early to Georgia to visit family.

We arrived mid-afternoon and got all unpacked before heading down to meet my dad for supper at Thatcher's BBQ.

I had the best veggie plate ever! Pinto Beans, Fried Green Tomatoes, Fried Okra and Mac and Cheese -- made this southern girls mouth really happy!

And this is how we ended the night.

181/365......sunset from my Mom's back porch....

Thursday, July 3, 2014 --Hubs headed off to play golf with my dad, brother and uncle.

So, I along with my Mom and the kids went to see Maleficent.  I really like the move a whole lot!  Great story of redemption.

We then had lunch at the Mellow Mushroom and walked around the Tennessee Aquarium for a bit.

The kids splashed in the wading pools  and had a grand time.

They also really liked this bridge.

182/365.....Chattanooga rocks!

It was then time to get home to run some errands. We dropped the kids off at my Mom's house.

Mom and I headed off to get groceries and get some flowers for the upcoming wedding of my cousin.

Then we stopped at the nursing home to check on my Pa.

The same Pa I mentioned at the beginning of this post.

He is not doing so well and is having to stay in a nursing home.

It is heart breaking because he wants to badly to go home.

This is my Mom feeding him his supper.

This is the epitome of honoring your mother and father!

Friday, July 4, 2014 -- I had hoped to take my kid to the creek that I wrote about above, but when we woke up on Friday morning, it was 55 degrees.

And by noon in was only 69.  Which meant it was too cold to swim in the creek and by noon it was too late.  

My cousin was getting married yesterday afternoon and Mom and I had things to do to get ready for it. I dropped the kids off with my dad and his girl friend and they finally got to go swimming.

Then we all got ready and headed off to the wedding.

It was a beautiful event on a bluff on our beloved Lookout Mountain.

After the wedding, Hubs and I drove down a serious back road to get down the mountain.

It was gravel and very rutted which made for a bumpy ride, but we made it so all is well!

We arrived at my dad's girlfriends house just in time to eat supper (delicious grilled steak, baked potatoes and salad!!).

We then sat and chatted while the kids played until dark when we shot fireworks!

183/365..... such fun.

Even though I didn't get to take the kids to the creek this year, there was still swimming and family and fireworks.

Pretty awesome 4th if you ask me!

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