July 4th

We celebrated July 4th this year in an amazing way. Our son began his own yard service last year, because he wanted a job, but was only 14, and too young to get a job yet.  He posted flyers around town, and has stayed quite busy with his different customers.

One of his customers have become close friend of ours.  They have taken a special interest in our son, and have become precious friends of ours.  This July 4th, their children were not able to celebrate the holiday with them, and so they invited us to share the celebration of July 4th with them. 

It was a day full of sun, water, good food, lots of laughs and splashes and just overall a day to relax and enjoy the celebrations of living in such a blessed country, the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave, the United States of America.

This is the view of our friends house from the boat dock, looking up towards the house.  They designed and built the house themselves, and what a lovely home it is to have a group of people over.  I love the design of the house, with the kitchen overlooking the family room, and all of it looking out towards the lake.  Their yard was beautifully decorated with flags and flowers and created a wonderfully festive atmosphere for the July 4th celebration.

We arrived at their home shortly after noon, and headed down to their dock, where their boat was awaiting us.  We loaded up on cold drinks and snacks, as well as lots of sunscreen, and climbed aboard!

It was a beautiful day, with not a cloud in the sky.  Our friends live on the Priest River as it flows into the Pend O'Reille River.  There is a no-wake zone on the Priest River, and so you must slowly navigate down the river, weaving in between people floating down the river, and various boats, and people in the water.

Our kids on the tube floating behind the boat, waiting for the no wake zone to end so their fun could begin!

We passed by the Priest River swimming hole, otherwise called "The Mudhole" and it was packed to the brim with people celebrating July 4th enjoying the sunshine and the cold water!

Finally we were approaching the end of the no-wake zone, and the kids were ready to GO!

What a time they had in the tube!  Around and around in circles they went, crossing other boats wakes, and quick turns to the left and the right, but they held on! There were quite a few other boats out on the river, but because the river is so big, it really felt like you had the entire river to yourself most of the time.

The water sparkled and glistened as the sunlight bounced off of it, and it seemed like every drop of water was celebrating the 4th with us!

We enjoyed the beautiful backdrop of the mountains in every direction on the river, simply amazing!

 One of the homes on the river that caught my eye... love the deck stretching the length of the house, and all the beautiful rocks, flowers, and landscaping...

Another beautiful home... although there were too many to take pictures of... but just a sample of the beautiful homes overlooking the river.

Our kids hamming it up on the tube, lifting their hands and not holding on... it was a good thing our friend didn't see them doing that... a quick turn to the right or the left would have had them wishing they had been hanging on!

The wind was blowing the flag north, and I thought this was a unique picture of the great American flag blowing in the wind...

 A few more pictures of the tubing adventure out on the river..

It was time to head back to the house and get dinner on the grill.  We grilled shrimp and steak, along with onions and mushrooms on the grill, and had broiled veggies, garlic potatoes and corn salad. 

 

By the time we finished eating our meal, it was time to hop back on the boat, to get out in the water, 

and get anchored for the fireworks show over the river.  So, we brought dessert with us on the boat. 

Dessert included Stars and Stripes Brownies created by our dear friend... 

The Stars -n- Stripes Brownies were absolutely heavenly and tasted even better then they looked!  

YUMMY!  We snacked on the brownies, and a Blueberry Crisp served up with creamy vanilla ice cream as we waited for the fireworks to begin...

The boat was anchored off shore from where the fireworks were launched, so we had a bird's eye view of the fireworks.  They played the national anthem and then began the beautiful fireworks.

I played around with my camera and found a setting that worked pretty well for the fireworks display. 

Our friends had brought these cute fireworks glasses that were three-dimensional.  Watching the fireworks with those glasses took the show to a whole new dimension!

This was the last round of fireworks, a beautiful fountain of showers to finish off what was a beautiful day celebrating the freedoms of the great country we live in!  It was a July 4th that we will always remember!  It was absolutely spectacular in every way, and my heart is grateful and thankful for the freedoms that we are blessed to have here in the United States of America. 

May we always remember the price paid for the joys and freedoms that we enjoy today!