Posted by mommyfranklin at July 5th, 2005

July 4, 2005 was a day of celebration and remembrance.

The day started out as normal. Scott left the house early to go play golf. He played in a 6-man scramble. He and his team shot a 58. I understand that is very good, as Scott was pleased with the game. He had a good time, even though the team didn’t place.

That night, we had a hootenanny of a Fourth of July celebration. Several of the couples from our Sunday School class (Dustin & Courtney Williams, Jonathan, Mindy, & Karissa Petty, David & Tia Speed, James & Eleah Garrett, Melissa Milner) came over for a hot dog cookout. The children entertained everyone with their crazy antics — Zachary rolled all the way over for the first time, Timothy ate sand (???), and Emily and Karissa called everyone servants. Cramer and Lucy even entertained everyone a bit by showing how well they can beg. Lucy even helped herself to a couple of their drinks. When it got close to sundown, we headed over to a spot out in the country with the Williams’ and the Speed’s so Scott and David could light firecrackers. Emily enjoyed holding the sparklers, stomping the poppers, and chasing the parachuters. Timothy was content to watch, but not touch. Zachary was really not too impressed by it all, and was not particularly fond of the “screamers.” Those made him hold on extra tight. After our mini show, we met up with Daniel & LeAudra Franklin, Josh & Melissa Milner, and the Petty’s parked on the side of the interstate and watched the city show. Timothy got very good at saying “FIREWORKS SPARKLY!” and Emily and Karissa enjoyed seeing who could scream the loudest. Zachary slept through the show in his carseat.

After the show, we came home. Having been out several hours, Emily really needed to visit the bathroom as soon as we got home. She ran from the van with Timothy on her heels yelling “Pee too pee too.” By the time the rest of us made it in the house, Timothy was trying to push Emily off the toilet so he could put his potty chair on. We’re not actively potty training him yet, but when he says he needs to go we let him. So, we took him to the master bathroom and let him use our bathroom. After sitting there about 5 minutes, he finally did it! Maybe it’s time we get a bit more aggressive with the training. After telling Timothy what a good boy he is, everyone went to bed.

All in all it was a nice day. I was quite pleased that it took a minimal amount of cleaning to get the house ready for guests. Emily has become a great help in keeping the house clean. Instead of having to put everything away first, I was able to skip that step and do the dusting and vacuuming. It’s stayed pretty clean for two weeks now. I hope we can keep it up!

One low note of the day was learning that Donna Sarchet passed away at 7:30pm, after a long battle with cancer. Everyone was prepared for this, but it is still a hard time for her friends and family. We praise God for the life Donna led and all that she meant to so many people.