Red, White, & Blue

I love the 4th of July!  I just do.  When I was a kid I actually believed that the entire country was celebrating MY BIRTHDAY.

The parade was for ME. . . & after the parade we'd go eat at MY favorite restaurant for MY birthday dinner.  At night they had a big celebration called The Stadium of Fire & they shot off fireworks for ME.  Yup, I was a self-centered little girl without a clue.  ha ha ha.

The 4th of July is NOT my birthday. . . it's July 6th, but my sweet parents let me celebrate all weekend long as a kid.  The 4th of July is special to me because it reminds me how much my family loves me.

It's also my country's birthday.  I am PROUD to be an American & I am married to my hero, Trek Potter, a Captain in the United States Air Force.  I'm PROUD to wear red, white, & blue & I'm PROUD to be FREE.

The Sunday before the 4th of July I always dress the family up in beautiful reds, whites, & blues in celebration of our country's birthday.  This year was no different.  I even got red bow ties for the boys.  It was DARLING.

How cute this this kid?

My Handsome Boys!

My Beautiful Girls

My Beautiful Family

 

Happy Birthday America.

Yorktown Victory Center with Opa

On Saturday we took Opa to the Yorktown Victory Center

(where General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington at the end of the Revolutionary War).

Opa LOVES anything "war" related.  He's a big history buff so we knew we had to take him here.  It was our first time here as well, so it was VERY exciting for all of us.

We went to the "soldier's camp" first where they demonstrated how to shoot a 

VERY BIG CANNON.

The boys REALLY liked the big cannon.

Next we visited each of the little areas around the encampment to learn more about life as a solider during that time period.  Opa was especially fascinated by the medic tent & the different ways sick patients were treated back then.

The boys got bored pretty fast so they found sticks & started drawing in the dirt while we listened to the presentations.

Taya soon joined them & they started sword fighting with sticks.  Yup, that's what my kids do when they're bored.  Fight with sticks.

"Hi - Ya." 

We took the kids to all the different tents to show them how it would be to live during that time period.  The enlisted soldiers tents were basic tents lined with straw to sleep on.  SO NOT COMFORTABLE.

The officer's tents were much nicer & had beds, desks, & a trunk.

The Colonel's tent was the biggest & had lots of different things inside like games, a nice writing desk, several trunks, & a vanity. 

 

Opa had a blast stopping every guy in costume & asking them what they knew about the Revolutionary War.  He was fascinated with these guys' knowledge on the subject.

The kids resorted to drawing in the dirt while the adults got their fill of history.  I loved it.  My kids are SO good to find something to do while we learn.  I have the best kids in the world.

We had a ton of fun.  After visiting the Yorktown Victory Center we found a cute little beach with a river walk full of restaurants & shops.  We found a fun little deli & had lunch there.  It was FANTASTIC.  We definitely want to come back to the beach & play again sometime.

After lunch I took the kids home for naps while Trek took his dad to the

ACTUAL BATTLEFIELD

& then to Williamsburg.  I knew they'd enjoy it a whole lot more without the kids around.  They had some great father/son time & I was happy they had that opportunity.

It was a fantastic day.  We wish Opa could stay with us forever.

Camp Tonsofun: Day 5 - FAMILY FUN DAY

Normally I do 5 straight days of Camp Tonsofun, but since we just moved into the house & got the 4 problem areas already cleaned, there was nothing more to do so we decided to just have a fun day together.  I think it was our favorite day of the whole week because we got to be together & we had a nice, clean house!

The Camp Treats for Friday were these cute little sidewalk chalks.  I just left them on the table to let the kids know how much I appreciated their hard work this week.

For our Camp Craft we made official Camp Tonsofun 2013 shirts.  The kids got a kick out of this.  They were SO dedicated in making their shirts absolutely perfect in every way.  It really was fun.  I found these plain shirts at Michaels for $2.00 each & then bought some puff paint for a quarter a piece out of the clearance bin.  It wound up being my favorite craft the entire week.

While we let the paint dry on our shirts, we decided to have a family picnic at the lake.  Opa had a fabulous idea for this.  Each of us put our names into a bowl.  Then one by one, we drew out a name.  Whoever's name we drew out of the bowl, we got to make a special picnic lunch for them ourselves & present it to them at the lake.

Opa got to make lunch for Bladen:

crackers, lunchmeat, cheese (homemade lunchables), juice, & fruit snacks

Bladen made lunch for Craiger:

crackers, lunchmeat, cheese (homemade lunchables), juice, & fruit snacks

Lorien made lunch for me:

a HUGE sandwich with extra pickles, a large pickle on the side, & LOTS of hot peppers

Cadence made lunch for Lorien:

ham & cheese sandwich, a pickle, blueberries, chips, & juice

Taya made Opa's lunch:

a HUGE ham & cheese sandwich, strawberries, juice, & chips

& I made lunch for Taya:

ham & cheese sandwich, strawberries, chips, & juice

When we got back home from our picnic, our shirts were all ready to go.  The kids couldn't wait to put them on!

 

For the day's activity Lorien wrote a skit for Camp Tonsofun.  It was DARLING.  We recorded it & as soon as we get it edited & on youtube, I'll put it on this blog entry.  It is adorable.

And that concludes Camp Tonsofun 2013!

Until next year. . . 

Canyon's Baby Blessing

Since Opa was in town, we decided to bless Canyon while he was here so he could stand in the priesthood circle.  Well, the Sunday Opa was here was Stake Conference so that wasn't going work out like we had planned.  So we got permission from the Branch President to bless him in our home.

Thursday, June 20th, we were able to bless our new little man.

President Arbukle was SO sweet to come to our house to assist with the blessing.

Trek blessed Canyon with many wonderful things:

He will love his siblings, have a strong testimony, serve in priesthood callings, have a desire to serve a mission someday, be married in the temple & have an eternal family. . . 

He will have a wonderful heart & be a friend to everyone.  He will be an example of the gospel of Jesus Christ & be a good husband & father.

But my very favorite part of his blessing. . . 

"You will always love your mother & you will always bring her great joy."

Don't you love that?  I sure do.  He does bring me great joy already.  I love this little guy.

Mimi & Baba sent Canyon the most adorable blessing outfit ever.  How cute does my little guy look?

ADORABLE.

 

I love this kid.  You see my face?  That's pure JOY right there.  I love you 

Canyon Murphy Potter.

I love you more than you'll ever know.