July 4th 2012!!

Tonight The Nash's came over for 4th of July dinner.  We decided to stay a little traditional and do hamburgers, hotdogs, onion rings, tater tots, and chocolate chip cookie dough balls.  After dinner we had a toe nail painting party.  Everyone's toes were painted.  SO MUCH FUN!
                                        Sean    Kaylee       Carson      Rose          Cali     Heather

Then after all of the polish was picked up we all got ready to go watch the BIG firework show in Plano.  Sean, Kaylee, and Rose got all dressed up for the occasion.

                                                                     Funny Faces

Luckily for us there is a hill right down the street from our house where we were able to park and watch the fireworks.  We got all five kids a glow stick necklace and they spent nearly an hour rolling them down the hill and throwing them in the air.  Who knew 2 dollar glow sticks would provide such entertainment.

Then once again after the sun went down......FIREWORKS!!

Such a fun night with the cousins!!!

Before we went to bed that night the kids were still finding creative ways to use their glow stick necklaces.  Sally just happened to be selected to be their 4th of July dress up doll.

July 3rd Fireworks Show

We feel completely blessed that Sean and Kaylee have such an amazing Grandmother and Aunt on their dad's side of the family that want to see them ALL of the time.  The only downside to this of course is splitting the holiday's and only seeing them on selected days.  So the day before the 4th of July it was just the three amigos (Clint, Rose, and I).  Today we decided to take Rose to the KaBoom Town Fireworks in Addison because that's where bubba and sissy were going to be.  Well...  We made it to dinner at Blue Goose and then decided we might want to take her to a smaller show after sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for 45 minutes.

Clint had heard of a smaller show that was close to Newman Smith High school so we decided to go check this one out in Farmers Branch.

Sure enough this was a great spot to spend our afternoon.  There were dressed up characters, bounce houses, bubble tables, and snow cones.

And of course after the sun went down...  FIREWORKS!!!!!

Today was Amanda's bridal shower!! Almost the entire family came on both Josh and Amanda's side to help celebrate. The decor was amazing from the kitchen and bath towel wedding cake, to the candy shop goodie station, and the carnation bride and groom puppy basket. The entire afternoon was full of LOVE... LOVE... and more LOVE!

The cake for Amanda's shower was so much fun to make. I went with a cowgirl fisher theme and it turned out quite well. :)

Both of the hosts, both the mother and mother-in-law of the bride, and the bride herself were pinned with beautiful corsages.

I had so much fun planning this shower with my Aunt Phyllis, she thinks of absolutely everything, including two fantastic fairies who were there to help us out all day long.

The bride and the mother of the bride.

Amanda's soon to be mother-in-law and sister-in-law where both at the shower.

One of the best things about having a cousin as one of your best friends is that you will have a friendship that will last a lifetime. I am extremely honored to be Amanda's matron of honor and I cannot wait to be standing by her side on her special day in September.

The bride and the bridesmaids!! Amanda, Janell, and I.

Cousins... cousins... and more cousins. If there is one thing that my family lacks it certainly isn't family members.
                                                                Mikaela, and Lari Joe

                                                     Stacey, Amanda, Jessica, Marissa

                                                                     Britton and Amanda

The entire afternoon was wonderful from the four games consisting of Well I never, The purse Game, Finish the bride's phrase, and how well does the bride know the groom, to the champagne toast, and the unique and thoughtful presents.

                                                       Amanda's Aunt's and cousin's.

                                                                      All of the girls!

                                A few photos of the blushing bride-to-be...

                          The final event of the day was for Amanda to release balloons into the sky.

I LOVE YOU AMANDA RAE SLAYTON!!! Soon to be Mrs. Frank.