Birthday Boy

Ethan celebrated his 30th birthday on July 18.  His gift from me was a surprise birthday party at his parent's house.  Not just a regular surprise party... an Indiana Jones surprise party.  We had a lot of family come and almost all of his buddies from growing up at Hampton Road Baptist Church, in DeSoto.

~ A yummy cake made by Cousin Carol ~ Tater of the Lost Ark, the inspiration for the party ~

~ Indiana Ethan and Ellasyn, she was a little shy with all the people at first, but it didn't take long for her to feel right at home in the middle of them all ~

~ Ethan and his dad, Howard  ~ The Family ~

~ All the Indiana's ~

~ The McDaniel Nieces ~ (Olivia-5, Lili-3, Sarah-6, Zadie-18m.) ~

~ Boyhood Buddies ~ Adam, Matt, Chris, Ethan, Greg, Russell, Kevin ~

~ Practicing with Ethan's other gift from me, an Indiana Jones whip ~

We had a great time, and Ethan was mostly surprised.  He had some suspicions that I was up to something... but it was worth all the walking on eggshells. Happy Birthday Babe!!

Miss Independance

Not only did we just celebrate America's Independance, we are also discovering a very independant streak in our girl! 

We started our celebrations on July 3rd at the Arlington Independance Day parade.  They put on a great show! Our cousin Patty and her family usually camp out for their front row spot the night before. They are so sweet to save room for us, too.  Ellasyn loved everything about the parade... the flag waving, the drums, the horses and the Elvi.  Yes, that is the plural of Elvis.  There is a group that dresses up like Elvis (in all shapes and sizes) and they ride around on teeny tiny motorcycles.  It really is a highlight of the parade and she thought it was great!   

The parade hasn't even started, but I am so excited!

~ Proud to be an American ~

She loved to wave the flags... Watch your eyes!

She couldn't take her eyes off of the parade, even for a picture.

She finally wore herself out, and kicked back like her cousin Zadie.

The McDaniel Crew (left to right)

Mommie, Ellasyn, Daddy, Hollie-dog, Jan, Howard, Zadie, Lili, Sarah, Stuart, Olivia, Kelli (with Baby Boy)

Modeling her tankini... she found a perfect seat for herself between these table legs. Silly girl!

 

We had a yummy dinner with all the McDaniels, and fun with cousins.

Sarah, Ellasyn, Zadie

Making sure Sarah eats all her veggies!

Since we had so much fun on July 3rd, our July 4th was nice and relaxing.

Sunday Morning on the way to church. My two favorite people!

Mommie, I am too busy for a picture!

I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating our independace. I just love this holiday and all that it stands for. I have always been patriotic. I hope that I can pass that on to Ellasyn.  We have a great family history of serving this country. While I do not feel the call to join the service and fight for our freedom, I will always support those that do. Thank you to all those that serve and have served our country to protect and provide the freedoms that we, all too often, take for granted.