Happy 4th of July!

First of all, I would like to thank all of the people who have fought or are fighting for our freedom here in the United States. I appreciate everything that you have done. I believe that our military is full of some of the most unbelievable people in the world. Way to go, guys and girls! Keep up the good work!

For the last couple of years, we stayed home for the 4th of July because Randy only had one day off in the middle of the week. Since it fell on a Friday this year, we had a couple of options... swim at my parents, go to the lake, etc. After talking with my friend, DeAnna, we decided that we would like to do something different. Randy's parents were camping in Cherokee, so we thought we could go that way. We searched for a hotel room for a long time with no luck. (I guess I should tell you now that DeAnna and her husband, Kenny, are experienced tent campers. Randy camped as a child. I had NEVER been in a tent in my lifetime.) I had the idea that we could go camping. They could stay in their tent, and we could stay in the camper with Randy's parents. After talking with my in-laws, we found out another couple that we are friends with were already there in the camper. Sooooooo... I said, "I can stay in a tent. It's only one night!" So, we headed to Cherokee.

• Here are some pics of Makenna, Isabella, and Amelia!
  

My in-laws were camping right on the creek!
Who wants to smile for the camera when there is fun to be had?
I love this shot! Can you tell that the water was COLD??

This is Eddie (aka the man who will brave the water to make children happy). THANK YOU, Eddie! We love you!
They saw some older children tubing, so they had to try it. It was precious!

Randy and Kenny had to rescue them when they got stuck on rocks. Randy said that he couldn't feel his toes.
Makenna loves Mr. Eddie!

Smile!
I pray that all of the girls stay friends forever. They will make so many memories together!
Here they are at the gem mine. We had so much fun mining. We found citrine, garnet, amethyst, and some beautiful smoky quartz. We'll wash some of our finds and take some pics for another post.

As you can see, our red, white, and blue girls had a wonderful time together. We capped off our evening listening to bluegrass music in our lawn chairs and saw a great fireworks display. We stayed up late making s'mores (my first) and singing praise songs. I loved it.

I really didn't know how I would handle sleeping in a tent. I really started to worry when it started to pour down rain. Good news... it didn't leak! BUT about halfway through the night, we realized that we were on the ground. Our mattress deflated. We had never used it, but it is 2 years old. We got up twice to pump it back up, but it didn't last long. So, overall, I really wasn't comfortable, but I had a great time.

Who knows??? Maybe we could buy a camper... :)