Independence Day!

Happy Fourth of July everyone!
Today we celebrated Independence Day by watching... Independence Day!  Because nothing says "America" like Will Smith and aliens.  No, I'm serious!
And then we celebrated by going to the shooting range!  Because nothing says "America" like the second amendment. 
And THEN we celebrated by going to the grocery store along with about 5,000 other people buying supplies for afternoon barbecues.  Because nothing says "America" like large-chain grocery stores.  :-)
And FINALLY we celebrated by going swimming and eating large quantities of meat and watermelon and rootbeer.  Because nothing says "America" like swimming pools, hot dogs, watermelon rinds, and rootbeer floats, right?  Right!
What a fun day.
Here are some pictures from the shooting range:

 Ben showing Brigham how to hold the gun.  We shot a .22 pistol.

 

We all looked super-stylin' in our protective ear and eye wear.  We were very happy for the ear thingamajigs, though, because it was LOUD in there!

 Ben showing Joseph the ropes.

 

I thought Mosey might be a little intimidated by the loud noise and the kick of the gun, but I needn't have worried.  He got right in there and shot like a pro.

 
We had a little family competition to see who could get the closest shots to the target.  We each had 10 shots.

Look!  Mosey got right in there almost on the bull's eye!

Brigham had 3 shots on the 9 and closer.

Joseph was going for head shots and got closer than anyone else.

 

 I thought I was pretty hot stuff--look, 3 nearly right on the bull's eye!

 

That is, until Ben took his turn.  It took him one test shot (upper right over the shoulder), and after that the rest of the shots were all bunched in close around the target.  He used to be in ROTC, though, so he's had way more practice.  :-)

It was pretty fun after I got over that mama-bear panicky feeling seeing my babies holding a mortal weapon.  They were safe and well-behaved though, and it was fun!
Our friend Traci and her son Joseph came over to swim and barbecue, and that was fun, too.  She brought Skip-Bo and Brigham schooled us all his first time playing the game!
I'm so grateful to live in this free country and this great state of Texas.  I'm so thankful for the founding fathers and the sacrifice so many brave men have made to preserve our freedom over the past 235 years.  I don't know why God has blessed me so much.  May proud and free Americans celebrate Independence Day for at least another 235 years!