361 days until the next one!

For as long as I can remember, the Fourth of July has been my favorite holiday. I just love the excitement of it. The fireworks, the food, the patriotism of the day ... It's kind of funny I wound up being an Army wife, since it somehow manages to make the holiday that much more meaningful and enjoyable to me.

Part of the reason I've loved the holiday for so long is that every year on the weekend of the Fourth of July, my dad's side of the family assembles for our family reunion. While I've often heard other people groan about their family reunions, I always look forward to mine. My dad's side of the family is full of really great, fun people who I feel really thankful to be connected to. I've only missed our reunion once, and even though it was a good Fourth, I really missed it. I decided that was the last reunion I would miss if I could help it.

These reunions have been going on for decades, even since my dad was a baby. There's a scrapbook that floats around during the reunions, and it's got pictures of my dad as a teenager in tiny mustard yellow shorts (since that's what they wore in the '70s). The reunion is a meeting of the families of my dad's dad and his four siblings. They're all getting older now, and one of them passed away a few years ago. More and more each year it seems like the reunions I look forward to so much are nearing an end.

So I was really excited when my dad called me in May to tell me that the cousin I babysat for in college was going to hold the reunion at his house in Norman this year. My cousin and his wife are two of the sweetest people you'll ever meet, and they've got three adorable children. My cousin is a successful doctor, and they built their amazing new house while I was still in college. I was excited to see what they'd done to it and to have a great excuse to go to Norman.

I stuck around Thursday night to go to a big fireworks show in Dallas with some friends, so I woke up early Friday morning so I could head to OK for the day. I arrived at my cousins' house while all the guys were still out playing golf (it's tradition!), so I caught up with aunts and cousins and helped sample chocolate-covered strawberries.

Once the late arrivals and the guys got to the house, we started lunch. We caught up on the details of each other's lives since we last saw each other. There were pregnant bellies and children walking around who were just babies in their mothers' arms last year. Cousins I remember from when they were toddlers are now 16, and for some reason, it still catches me off guard to see that they're old enough to require more clothing than the simple underwear they insisted on running around in as small children.

There was playing in the pool, fishing in the pond ...

































eating to our hearts' content, riding in an awesome golf cart (we're all Sooner fans!),

















playing with a hor.ny toad (I hadn't seen one of those since I was in elementary school!),

















and three flavors of homemade ice cream, a family tradition that goes all the way back to when my grandpa and his siblings were little.

















There were hugs and laughter and lots and lots of pictures. There were prayers of gratitude for the blessings we have and prayers of protection for the men and women away from their families on such a patriotic day.

Many times through the course of the day I found myself looking around at all the wonderful people I'm so fortunate to have in my life. We may only all get together once a year, but it's a time I always cherish and look forward to very much.

When the final tradition of the day -- putting on our excellent fireworks show -- was over, I couldn't believe it was already time to go home. We all said our goodbyes and got ready to go our separate ways. We made the most of the final minutes, with about 10 of us piling into the golf cart for a silly ride to our cars (seriously, 10 people). We laughed and chatted a few minutes longer before climbing into our cars to head our different directions.

I wasn't even completely out of the driveway before I was already looking forward to next year's reunion.