July 4th Weekend

We had a great July 4th weekend. We left on Thursday evening for south Georgia to spend the weekend with my in-laws. I am so incredibly blessed to have wonderful in-laws that I enjoy being around. They have always made me feel like part of the family for which I am truly grateful.

It was a pretty relaxing weekend. We mainly played in the pool with A. On Thursday and Friday nights, we could see fireworks from the backyard. On Saturday night, we attended a party at the neighbor's house. It was a lot of fun, but I had to leave early because I did not feel well. When the rest of the family returned home on Saturday night, T and A had fun with the sparklers. A was scared of the sparklers at first, so T had to teach her how to hold them. Once he did, she had a great time with them.

A was a little grumpy on Sunday morning and didn't want to go to church. T's parents attend the 8 o'clock service, so we did have to get her up early. She was very well behaved during the service. She did act up a little towards the end of the service, but I was so proud of her for being good the majority of the time. She also got the hymnal out and started singing her own song with the words, "Jesus is my saviour." It just made my heart melt.

My favorite memory of the weekend had to be a conversation A and I had in the pool on Sunday afternoon. A has a habit of just randomly telling us that she loves us. It is very cute and sweet, but this time I expanded that conversation. It went like this:

A: "I love you, C."
C: "I love you too, A. Do you know why I love you?"
A: "Why?"
C: "Is it because you are so pretty?"
A: "No."
C: "Is it because you are so sweet?"
A: "No. It is because I'm your stepdaughter."
C: "Yes, that's right. And God made you my stepdaughter. And just like God will never stop loving you, I won't either."
A: "I won't stop loving you either."

The sad part of the weekend came on Sunday afternoon when it was time for T and I to leave. A is staying with her grandparents for a few extra days and her cousins are coming to visit as well. A was a little sad for us to leave, but she knew she'd have fun with her grandparents and cousins. T and I sure do miss her, though. We are looking forward to our vacation to the beach in less than 2 weeks!