The day we celebrate our independence

happy late independence day! Landon and i both had to work Friday and Saturday (no 3-day weekend for us - boo-hoo). But we still managed to have a wonderful 4th of July celebration.

true to family tradition, i made a first try at home-made ice cream.
I think we decided it came out pretty dang good. strawberry!
we celebrated fancy with champagne! (maybe this is a new tradition in the making?)
and of course, celebratory cigars
and each year landon's family fries their food for the fourth! this year we simply managed potatoes. they were SOOO so good.
even Duvi had a lot of fun. landon let him lick the remains of 5 bowls! (a HUGE treat considering duvi never gets human food)
he even got his own bowl of ice with some salt on top - so yummy!


we drove down the street to the pier on lake michigan where the three of us climbed on some rocks into the lake where we watched fireworks. it was really amazing because we could see firework shows in the far distance all around the edge of the lake. there were SO many different displays, but i did count 14 different shows going off at once. we finally had our own show at our pier and it was really beautiful!

I am reading a book right now which is very highly recommended by my hubby and brother-in-law: Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel. Reading about Ayaan's childhood in Islam in the middle east and Eastern Africa makes me aware of a world that is inconceivable to me. It is really a reminder to me of what a wonderful country America is and how precious our freedoms are - and are continually protected at such a precious price.