Family, Friends, and Fireworks!!!

The "Sherwood/Jacksonville Home Improvement" crew (Russell, Christine, Norman and me) started our 4th out at Andrea's repairing her deck. It had caved in back on my birthday due to poor construction. We assessed the situation and determined after taking off a couple of boards that we could place cinderblocks at stragetic locations under the deck and make it better than it was before. So, Christine and I head to Lowe's to make the purchase while Norman and Russell removed a few more boards and used the jack to raise the deck. After securing the 2 x 8's in the braces (a task that the original builder had failed to do) they waited for us to return with the blocks. Norman and Russell placed the blocks where they were needed and then replaced the boards. A job that we had expected to take most of the day was finished by noon. So, we all went back to our respective homes and prepared for the afternoon cookout.

I had gotten a new grill the day before so we decided to have all the crew over to try it out. We had burgers and hot dogs and all the fixin's. We didn't want to have anything that would take too much time since our final destination was the Riverfront to watch the fireworks display. I did not take any pictures of the fireworks because as luck would have it...my batteries were low. I did get a few earlier in the day..none of the deck repair :-( but a few of the gathering at our house and a few more of us waiting on the fireworks. It was great to spend the day with friends and family enjoying the music of the AR Symphony while watching the beautiful fireworks as we celebrated the freedom we as Americans have.

Sitting on the patio waiting on the burgers and dogs to get done.

Camryn trying to master the art of lighting the fire starter









Waiting on the fireworks to start










Camryn plays with her gameboy....







Norman catches a few zzz's.....


















Annette reads garden magazines while Russell and Christine watch people.....




I make a self-portrait ....










Camryn even entertained us with a few leaps and dance moves



The beautiful sky as the sun goes down.









As always the music was good and the fireworks were awesome. When the show ended and the smoke from all the fireworks began to drift away we headed for our car only to sit in traffic for 45 minutes trying to get back home. With pride in our hearts toward all that is dear to us, we all agreed, it was an enjoyable way to celebrate our country's 232nd Birthday!!With ...Family...Friends....and Fireworks!