July 4th weekend

It was another busy summer weekend for us! Shawn and Kim Thompson are back in Iowa for a month break from school in Dallas. They were kind enough to join us for a couple days. They arrived on Friday morning, and took us out to eat at the Waffle Stop for breakfast. To eat up some spare time between the meal and the kids' naps, we went to see a little free petting zoo in Waterloo. Violet and Calvin got to walk around and feed donkeys, goats, birds, chickens, cats, rabbits, and turkeys. Violet's favorite thing was putting a piece of carrot in a donkey's mouth, and Calvin LOVED the little baby bunny in the cage. The little baby bunny was so tiny, it was probably the size of an orange. He kept saying "ooooh!" and poking it with his little fat fingers through the cage. He also liked to see the kitties in the cage. He said "hi!" to most of them. He got some goat poop on his sandals which ended up on my pant leg when I picked him up. Shawn and Kim came with us to the hog roast that Bethany Bible Chapel (ie: BBC) on Friday night and most of Saturday. BBC hosted a July 4th bash at a friend's farm house in the country. We showed up on Friday night (it was held at a friend's farm house) in time for the fireworks...so that meant we left our house around 9:30 pm. I was so sure it was going to be a mess because they were up so much later than their bed times, but it went OK. Violet was really happy to see all her friends there and really loved the fireworks. Calvin clung to me and clutched tighter with the loud booms, but he didn't cry. He was a little curious and brave enough to crane his neck backwards to see what all the excitement was about, but for the most part, he wanted to stay right in my lap with his blankie and paci. We got home right after they did their little fireworks show (which was REALLY good considering it was a one-man show!) and got the kids to bed ASAP. The next day we went back out to the hog roast at the farm. The hog was in the big roaster and it was raining. Most everybody stayed under the tent until it cleared up. People played yard games and we let the kids run around and have fun. I had to rescue Calvin from an open fire pit a couple times. Violet got to blow bubbles and run around with her friends. She learned to say "Ready, Mark, Set, Go!" and take off running over and over and over. We watched the hog get cut up when it was done cooking (a sight!) and then we all had a buffet lunch with BBQ pork and lots of salad choices. V and C didn't eat much, but they both did eat a few cookies. Dave was asked to lead the crowd in a short devotional time. The hosts of the party asked if he could bring out the gospel in his message because they knew a lot of unsaved people would be attending the bash. He did a good job with his message, and made the analogy of the slaves being set free after the emancipation proclamation was signed but some slaves didn't know about it until 2 1/2 yrs had passed and the word eventually got around (imagine if they all had cell phones and email during that time!). He said as Christians we are to live as though we are set free from sin and from the penalty and power of sin. Shawn and Kim left that afternoon. We left the hog roast around 2 pm, and the kids napped. Dave and I cleaned up the house a little. We got a pizza for supper that night, and made another decisions to go to the fireworks in Cedar Falls Saturday night. Another late night...but it was worth it. Violet was really excited to go again. We drove there and she kept telling us that the moon was coming with us to the fireworks because she saw it out her window as we were driving and it looked as though the moon was driving with us. She had a blast watching them boom and sparkle. Calvin acted the same, Dave held him this time. Sunday morning came too quickly...with all of us lacking major sleep, the kids were pretty whiny and tired. When I got Calvin from the nursery he was screaming so badly his little body was tightening up. We got home, fed him lunch, gave him a dose of ibuprofen, and he slept for 3 1/2 hours. Violet took a nap, too. Dave is suffering the most, I think. He has been battling a sore throat and cold for a few days now. This morning he woke up and he said his sore throat was so bad, and he felt like it was moving further down his throat. So he made an appointment with the doctor to see if its something more serious and if he can get some better medicine to treat his pain and make him better. His appointment is at 2 pm today, I hope it helps.