4th of July Visits

Rachel of momentscapturedbyrachel  scheduled Iris' newborn pictures at her studio this morning.  Of course Rachel takes amazing pictures and we can't wait to see them. She actually posted a sneak peak on her Facebook page If you would like to see one click HERE. They are amazing. Rhoda and Lee agreed to come here once Rachel was done with them. David and Israel came over bringing meals from Stephanie for Rhoda and Lee along with cookies for our guests moving into the apartment tomorrow.   Israel got to meet his new cousin.

Sarah and Nolan also came bringing Zion AND 3 dogs. Today they were returning Ruby to Rhoda and Lee. They have been puppy sitting with Ruby since before Iris was born. Zion also got to get up close and personal with baby Iris.  

These 2 cousins are 9 months apart and will be good playmates in a couple years. Phil and Anna's girls are in Minnesota visiting Anna's aunt Jolene so Phil and Anna bought and put together a playset as a surprise for their girls when they get home on Saturday. They said it took 12 hours of them working together to get it up.

The girls are going to love it. They joined the rest of us for a pizza dinner.  After supper everyone left and Mark and I were just too tired to drive to fireworks and so the very first time in my life we watched the fireworks at the Capital, Washington DC, on television. It was almost as impressive, watching this HUGE celebration on TV as it would have been being AT Peoria fireworks and a lot less uncomfortable. The celebration of our country's birthday is always special.  We really do have a GREAT country and it is wonderful to see so many patriotic people celebrating wearing red white and blue, waving flags and singing 'God Bless America!' 

We had a productive day here. This morning Mark finished the insulation project while we were walking then went out to weed whack and mow. I got all the cobwebs down in the stall barn and cleaned up the stalls. Karin got the outdoor arena and round pen sprayed for weeds.  

Mike and Diane went to Middle Grove and sent back the pictures below. They made sure to take pictures of all 9 foals but I can't tell some of them apart by pictures. There are actually 7 foals in the picture below. 

 Below is Rosaleigh and her filly by Evan. She is the youngest foal out there.

 Below is Foxy's filly and Missy's filly. They are easy to identify. 

 Below is Rosaleigh's filly by Evan. 

 There is plenty of grass and thankfully lots of trees for shade along with lakes, creeks and big puddles to cool off in. 

All of the horses look good. The foals are growing well and are learning herd manners.  

Today I am thankful that I live in America. I'm grateful for our founding fathers that fought so hard for freedom. Seeing the fireworks I can picture in my mind the flag burned and torn, during the night trying desperately to see through the smoke of each bomb burst the flag  then early that morning as Francis Scott Key peered into the misty light to see that the flag was still standing. The thrilling sight of the flag waving and then I see him dropping down to pen the song The Star Spangled Banner. Yes the flag still stands! We still have that freedom to be able to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus who also paid the ultimate price for the freedom for our Soul!