Hail to the Red, White and Pink???

Hello! We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! We are all so blessed to live in this great country! On our nation's birthday, I hope everyone took a moment to reflect on what it means to have freedom. Don't ever forget how fortunate we ALL are...Soooooo, Ryan has been wanting to do some landscaping since we moved in. He finally broke down and ordered over 200 retaining wall bricks and several bags of leveling sand from Lowe's. Laying these bricks was no easy feat. He had to dig a trench for the first layer...Here is what the planter looks like. He is almost done, but wants to "cap" the top...He also decided he wanted to put bricks around all 6 of our trees. So far he has finished 3 of them. I am hoping to post the end results on next week's BLOG entry. "Way to go, Ryan!!!"This weekend, we went to the wedding of my Instructional Assistant's son... It was a beautiful ceremony. ALL in Spanish...Ryan and I had to put our thinking caps on and do some "hard core" translating! Here is Maria dancing with her husband. I love her! She is so much fun to work with...On Sunday, we headed down the street to our annual neighborhood 4th of July Party hosted by the Beckners (our good friends Eric and Liz). Here is a shot of Ryan and Zach playing cornhole...All the girls in the hood- Kristin, me, Liz, Robyn (our newest addition), Sabrina and Lisa :) We had a relaxing time- eating, drinking, talking. You know, the usual summertime activities... Robyn, Chris and Steave... We decided to have the fireworks display over the pond this year, since our neighborhood is pretty much built out now...Here are some of the fireworks set up and ready to go for nightfall... Eric and all his ammo...Our neighbor, Mike is a part time DJ and was kind enough to set up his equipment so we could enjoy music during our neighborhood fireworks display... Me and Liz... Sabrina about to get her "sparkle" on...Me and Brian :)Liz and her flame throwing :)Ryan and Eric were willing to sacrifice their appendages and set off the fireworks for all of us to enjoy. Fortunately, no limbs were blown off on this particular evening...It is still so strange to me to be able to light fireworks right next to our home... BEAUTIFUL!GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!Here are McKenna and Peyton (our fantastic dog sitters) playing with sparklers...Me, Tiffany, Kristin and Layne :) So after recuperating from 4th of July, we still had one more gathering to attend. Since May, our neighbors and I have been planning a surprise birthday party for our friend, Sabrina. The theme was "Pretty in Pink". You see, Sabrina loves only two things in life~ The Twilight Series and the color pink... The drinks were pink... The decor was pink... The food was pink too...Each of the neighborhood girls agreed to make a pink appetizer or two... Did you know they make neon pink food coloring??? They really do... Even the guys volunteered to give up their manhood and wear pink for the afternoon :)Me and Tiffany waiting to surprise Sabrina...The plan was simple. Sabrina and the other girls would go to see the movie, Eclipse (I am NOT a Twilight fan, so it would not be strange that I would not want to go). While they were gone, I would set everything up at my house. When they came back from the movies, we would all be waiting to surprise her and boy did we EVER!!! For dinner, Brian (Sabrina's hubby) bought ribs and chicken for everyone and Ryan (master griller) cooked them...We had originally planned this party for Sabrina, but a few weeks ago, we met our new neighbor, Robyn and started hanging out with her too. Ironically, Sabrina and Robyn both have July 5th birthdays! Sooooo, we had 2 birthday gals!Brian, Lisa, Liz and Elise...These guys must love Sabrina an awful lot to wear all that pink!!!GROUP SHOT!!! I know I always say this, but our neighbors are great! There is always something fun to look forward too. Everyone is so kind and caring. We really are blessed... I am VERY disappointed that this came out blurry! Here are me, Sabrina, Robyn, Lisa, Kristin, Liz and Elise... Again, more cornhole was played... Robyn and her son, Jorden... Do you like her cake? It's a purse! Sabrina's cake... Birthday gals with their birthday wine...The men hangin' out on the back patio...Three Men and a Baby (Steave, Brian, Chris and Elise)Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to you... Make a wish!!!! We love you girls!!! Hope this year brings you the best!!! xo Have a great week everyone! We love you!!!Until next time...xo