The Shroyer Family: Red, White, and Blue!!!!

What a weekend we had this year celebrating the 4th with family at our new home! It was a nice, long weekend, thanks to my boss who surprised me with Friday off, and we enjoyed every ounce of it!!! We have slowly been working on the house and last night I found a lot more decorations, so Brenton and I spent a couple of hours decorating and I finally got the "dreaded" closet's done, as well....now, my mission....CURTAINS!!! Anyway, so we spent the weekend doing a little bit every day and it's really coming together!!! Not sure why, but this weekend, all we kept saying to each other is "it's just so different down here" we all for some reason "feel different" and it seems that little piece of something that was missing before, is no longer! This weekend gave us a sense of community, too!! It was so neat to watch all the folks, young and old, open their front doors, take their chairs to take a seat at what I assumed was "their" spot to watch the annual town parade. As I looked around on Saturday, I noticed the older folks and realized that they have probably been watching this very parade for many years, I kept imagining all the different things they probably have seen over the years?! Not sure why, but I have been feeling pretty nostalgic lately....then my eyes went to my little guys as we heard the sirens coming down the street and I wondered, would that be Brenton and I one day when our boys are grown & have families of their own?? Man, I sure hope so.....I pray life stays simple here, for the most part, and I pray that we continue to enjoy every moment we can while our boys grow! The simplicity of a simple sparkler and what enjoyment that brings, the simplicity of walking over the bridge to my sister-in-law's to watch the fireworks from her back yard, the simplicity of the grill cooking hot dogs to feed our families, the simplicity of red, white, and blue glow sticks and the fun they bring, the simplicity of conversation with new friends, the simplicity of the front porch swing as we watch the cars drive by heading home from festival, or the simplicity of hearing Ethan say "Mommy, I love you" as we watched the booms in the sky, and the simplicity of hearing Colin say "Wow" as he watched the sky light up with beautiful colors, is exactly the life Brenton and I have wanted for quite some time and like I said, I'm not sure why, but things are different here?! It's like we are living our own version of Doc Hollywood and live in a small town like Grady. LOL!!! =) This year we really enjoyed the 4th and as I was putting all my festive decorations away yesterday, I couldn't help but think about next year...but until then, we will continue to enjoy each moment here and make memories while doing so! Hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July...here are a few pics from our fun weekend!!!