I have said it before and I will say it again, the 4th of July is one of my most favourite holidays! I love the parades, the BBQ's, the pool, and the fireworks. I am proud to be an American and I love my country and my heritage. America is a great big melting pot and that is why this Swede in Twede can call herself an American. John's family is originally British and mine is Swedish and British. They came to America for a better life, religious freedoms, and land.........and that is exactly what they got. I am so grateful. Sooooo seeing that I am very patriotic, living in another country on your beloved Independence Day can kinda suck. But thankfully we have AWESOME friends who put on their Patriotic and joined us. John and I did a BBQ and wouldn't ya know, the Patriot Gods were with us. It did NOT rain, which is nothing short of a miracle. I asked our guests to bring a salad and a mighty feast we had.
Anya and Aparna. Anya is from St. Petersburg, Russia and is married to Troy, a Yankee from Montana. Anya and Troy are in the process of trying to get back to the US (long story), and we are praying and crossing our fingers and toes for their sake that they will be able to return to their home sooner than later. Aparna and her family are from India and come to the UK from Singapore, we were so happy that they could also join us in our festivities.
Uncle Fred has been working in Brighton and forked out the cost of petrol to come join us "Yanks" in celebrating the 4th. We LOVE Uncle Fred and are up for any excuse really to hang out with him :)
Lisha is on the left and is also from the US, Aparna (middle), and Sally (right) is my Kiwi. Sally comes to us from New Zealand, but she lived in NYC for a few years so I count her as being American ;)
I love these girls.
Anya and Troy
Pete is from the UK and is married to Sally, a most fantastic pair they are. We really enjoy the time we spend with Sally and Pete.
Uncle Fred had to head out before the firework show. We are sending him off so that he can get back to Brighton by a reasonable hour.
Mary is more than a friend and has really become like family. We love her GUTS! Mary is such a great friend and neighbour, a definite blessing in my life.
Anya and Troy's darling daughter Riley shakin' her groove thang.
Vogue
The kiddo's
Aparna and Prashant
Mr. Hot Stuff
Ryder "Joy" as I call him and Riley
The younger girls sneaked up to Ads room and partied like crazy animal princess'.
Lovely friends
Bottle rockets :)
The kids loved the bottle rockets and crackle balls and we were grateful that Troy brought his fireworks to share with us.
Sally and Lauren did a craft and made Lauren an American flag shirt. Isn't it fab?!
Me, John, Troy, and Anya
Me, John, Prashant, and Aparna
Emma, Lisha, and Me
Hubby and Me.
Sally and Pete and Lauren headed out before we caught a picture with their family. We had such a great time and were grateful for fun friends to celebrate with. It is tradition for our family to do 4th of July pictures, so we were happy to catch many a photo in our red, white, and blue. It's amazing how celebrating some of your traditions with friends helps to ease the sadness of being away from home. We had a great 4th and are now getting settled into the summer that we are yet to have.
