On the Sunday before Memorial Day my hubby had to work so I had our three kids and my two nieces the whole day all to myself. So we got up and got ready and went to church like usual. Usually after church the four older ones go with my hubby on the church bus and I usually take the baby. Her and I go with my great friend Brenda to Wal-mart or if we need to go to a different store we do but usually it is Wal-mart. Well this week they all had to come with me and they did not get to go on the bus which they all look so forward to. I wanted to make it a special day and just enjoy my children. I also wanted to help them understand just how important our Soldiers are and seeings how it was Memorial weekend I decided to take them up to my Dads, Uncles, and Granddads grave. (I also have a sister buried there as well) So we went to the store and bought some American flags and some flowers for my sisters grave. We went to the cemetery and we walked around it and I showed them where they all were buried and we walked around and looked at all the veterans headstones and read them to the younger ones. After a bit we went back to my daddy's grave and we put the American flag up and put the flowers on my sisters grave. Then we prayed. I prayed first and if anyone knows me they know I am emotional and I have a VERY soft spot for anything to do with the military. So of course I got a little choked up but I wasn't sad I was thankful for them and their service. Well if anyone knows my niece Ashlee they know she completely feeds off of me and she is very much my Drama Queen. Well she got to crying and I told her I wasn't crying because I was sad. I was thankful and I just love them so much. So then she said well I am crying because you are crying because you are thankful so I am thankful. Boy oh boy is she gonna be a handful the older she gets but I love her soft heart. Well then the rest of them prayed and I just love to listen to them pray it is so sweet. So then we finished up there and we were all so hungry by then so we decided to go to our favorite place as they call it. (Lin Buffet) We had a good time there they were all so good. Our next thing we needed to do was we needed some shirts for the Parade on Monday. So we ran over to Old Navy because they had some shirts with flags on them and they were only 5 dollars buy one get one free. I was really thankful they had exactly what we wanted and we could get in and out of there in no time because our last class for Sign Language class was Sunday and I really didn't want to miss it. Well we made it. Yippy. So over all we had a great Sunday.
We had to get up early Monday AM because we were all going to be in all 3 of the parades here. I was a little worried because you never know how it's going to go and what kind of meltdowns we are going to have but for the most part they all were awesome. Even the baby was great the entire day. We got there I think a little after 9am and the Elmira one was supposed to start at 9:30 So we got everything situated and decided to put the 4 older ones on the bus throwing candy and I would walk with the baby in the double stroller with a box of tracks in the front seat of the stroller for everyone to grab from. The float that our church did was absolutely AWESOME. Everyone did such a great job with it and I really think it made a big impact with alot of people. So in the front we had a couple people carrying our church banner then there was two people carrying the Christian flag and the American flag then the float then a bunch of us to hand out tracts then it was the bus and on the bus were a bunch of posters with all of our church ministries then on the back of the bus was a lighthouse then behind the bus was a couple more people carrying another church banner. I have NEVER been more moved at a parade than I was this year. To walk up to a Veteran and look them in the eye and to tell them thank you for serving our country from the bottom of my heart and to see them stand and salute their fallen brothers I was so thankful for my sunglasses and sweat that way they couldn't see my crying. It was just so awesome. Well then after the first parade we went to the heights one. That one was pretty quick then we ended up at the height legion for their BBQ chicken yummy. Then onto the HHDS parade. This time Livie and Ashlee were gonna walk the parade and Aries was gonna stay on the bus to throw candy. Well at the very last minute Livie decided she was to tired to walk and wanted to get back on the bus to throw candy. Truth be known she really wanted to get on there to eat the candy. So Ashlee walked with me and she was such a hoot. She was so cute handing out tracts. It was like she was hand picking everyone she wanted to give one to. She was just a skipping it was super cute and my Izzy was holding strong. Well after the parades were all finished up and we all got back to our cars we had a little cookout with the Norton's at our house. We turned the sprinkler on and they got to cool off and had a good time. By 8pm we were all so tired there was no problems getting anyone to bed. It was such a great day. Over 6000 tracts were handed out and praying that some souls will be saved. We love our children to see us serving the Lord and they love to serve the Lord as well. There was some great memories made. Oh I forgot to mention that while we were waiting for the Heights parade to start my hubby took Aries over to the firetruck behind us and the fireman let him get up in the truck and Aries had the biggest smile on his face. He absolutely LOVES firetrucks. He also let him step on the button for the siren. His eyes were as big as saucers. It was great and I am sure he will remember that for a long long time.
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