Boom Boom Extravaganza!

 My niece Katelyn, and her husband Nathan, have had a July 4th party for the last few years.  We haven't been able to go because you may remember what my work schedule was like before I got this new job.  However, this year we made it!  We were so glad we could go and really enjoyed ourselves.
There were lots of people there, both Nathans family and Katelyns.  Laura and Aaron were there with the girls, our son Andy and his wife Nikki had come up from KY to see my Dad, so they were able to be there too.  Heather, Andrew and Cassie were coming and were almost there when Cassie got sick in the car, so they had to turn around and go home.
Katelyn and Nathan live about an hour from us, so my Dad wasn't going to go, as it was going to be a long night along with the long drive.  But Dad really wanted to be there with the family, so my brother picked him and Ann up and he made it through the night and greatly enjoyed himself.  All of the family was there except a few nieces and nephews who couldn't make it - such a blessing to be together and for him to enjoy it.
Here's some (a bunch!) pictures from the evening.

They live out in the country with a big yard and fields around them, so it was perfect for all the people and activities.

They did so much work!  There were numerous stations set up in the house and around the yard with fun things, all in a patriotic theme.  This was a snack and candy station.

Here's part of the goody section, fruit pizza, cookies, berry bars, cupcakes, fruits and dip.  No one was left hungry!

They had games.  Here's the kids tossing water balloons till they broke.

They had a tattoo station with all kinds of patriotic tattoos.  The girls had fun with them.

They put this one on Bob, and when he went to bed, he found out it glowed in the dark!  

Here's our esteemed hosts, Katelyn and Nathan.  As you can see, Katelyn participated in the water balloon game!

They had fun fans and glasses too.

S'more making!  Alaina was trying to roast her marshmallow from a distance because the smoke kept blowing on her.

These are fireworks set up for later.

I enjoyed wandering around the property, there are so many pretty views.

Meanwhile, Dad was sitting under a canopy, enjoying the food and company.  He was exhausted the next day, but he said it was worth it.

Ruby loves little kids.  Here she was helping one of Nathans nieces with water balloons.

They had kid friendly poppers and sparklers, along with some small fireworks for the kids to enjoy.

Alaina with her sparkler.

Kids having so much fun!

Fun colored smoke bombs and sparkling spinners.

Soon it was time for the fireworks.

They gave us prism glasses to wear to enhance the fireworks.

The girls had glasses and glow bracelets.

Nathan gave a nice little talk about our country and our God and then the fireworks started.

They were so good!  Plus Nathan had them set to music.  I've never experienced that before and it was so good.

There was a glitch at the end.  One of the fireworks failed and went off, setting of a bunch of other ones, so the grand finale got messed up.  It was a bummer for Nathan, who had put so much work into it. but everyone there said they had such a good time even with that glitch.
We sure had fun and so appreciate all the work that went into this.

It was such a nice weekend!  We enjoyed time with Andy and Nikki.  I made them take this pic right before they left Sunday night to drive home.

We had a quiet July 4th, but grilled hamburgers with Heather, Andrew and Cassie for supper.  The perfect end to a lovely weekend!