4th of July celebrations

Since my photos are backwards I guess I'll run through the day that way also!

The top 2 photos were taken this evening at the cookout we went to with a large group of families from our church here, The Refuge. The kids spent nearly all of their time in the trampoline arena and surprisingly with no accidents. We had enough food for a small army and it was delicious. I feel as though I have eaten enough to last me for a week but somehow know that by morning I'll be ready to eat again! It was nice to be in the company of so many people from church and get to know them a bit better. After the meal we packed in as many vehicles as possible and headed the couple of blocks to the beach to watch the fireworks. It was an amazing sight to watch them being set off over the water with the moonlight also bouncing off the small waves.

This morning we took off for Billy Joe Johnson's 97 foot houseboat on the Pascagoula river for a wonderful lunch. All of the Teen Challenge girls were there and you can see by the photos it was quite a large group of people! The girls spend every holiday at Billy Joe's and it's no wonder. You can see by the spread on the bar area that it was a feast! We had gar creole (gar is a fish), butter beans with sausage, fried catfish, smoked chicken, hushpuppies and all the usual fixins. Like I said, I should be full for a week! We watched the people going up and down the river in their pontoons, jetskis and bass boats. The river was the place to be on a day as hot and humid as today was.

Oh yeah --- the lady in the green shirt --- "single Christian lady..." :)
She is one of the leaders at Teen Challenge and has dedicated herself to helping these girls get a chance at a real life! She enjoys what she is doing and is such a joy to be around. (she'll flip to see I actually printed her words).

All in all it was a great day to celebrate our freedom. It was a holiday that I will never forget as I have never spent one like this. It was a fun day and we feel blessed to have been included in these peoples' family parties. It helps us when we think about our families back home and missing them on days like today.

It's just so awesome to realize the religious freedoms we have here and that we too often take for granted. It should be something we stop and celebrate more than just one day a year.

We thank these families and our families at home. We love you all!

Until tomorrow....God bless America. Susan and Monty