The 4th

Wow... what a fun whirlwind day. This morning I got up pretty early to work on the order of worship for Sunday. Jarrod is continuing in a series on leadership as we go through the process of selecting elders and deacons. I think this Sunday will be a blessing... the prep time has already blessed me.

About 9:25 we left the house headed for a Starbucks in Vallejo to rendezvous with Jeremy, Amber and Amber's dad, Steve. The three of them, along with Amber's middle sister, Tali, and her 11 month old, Caelan, had all driven up to Santa Rosa from Fresno on Sunday to visit Brice, Neisha, and new baby, Zeke. Since Amber hadn't seen Kaleb this visit, we worked out the rendezvous. We got a coffee, picked up J&A, and headed for Antioch as Steve went back to Santa Rosa.

In the mean time, Kapil and Kaleb were heading to Antioch from SF, and we all got together at our house. We had a nice lunch and visit, and Kaleb was more than excited to see his Aunt Amber... Uncle Jeremy too, but he'd just seen him a few days prior.

Around 1:30 Steve, Tali and Caelan came by to pick up Jeremy and Amber and head to Fresno. Amber's mom, Gail, stayed on in Santa Rosa to continue her help with the baby. It was the first time VJ and I had gotten to see Caelan... what a sweet kid. And she was quite fascinated with Kaleb.

Later in the afternoon we picked and watered the garden. Then we grilled some pork chops and ate them along with fresh cooked green beans and just picked tomatoes and squash from the garden... yummy!!

About 8:00 we loaded up a small ice chest and 4 lawn chairs and headed downtown for fireworks over the river. With VJ's card we were able to park in the police lot, go through the station, and find a primo spot out in front of the APD building. Kapil, Kaleb and I strolled around, noticing all the people, taking in the music and looking at the river. We made it back to our seats about 30 minutes before the 9:30 start and just relaxed and chatted until the show started. It was a pretty good fireworks display. Because the fireworks were shot off a barge as it was pushed up the river, the whole show moved across the sky. Kaleb's reactions to all the booms and visual treats made it an even better show than it would otherwise have been. Pretty cool. I even talked with my mom (cell phones are great, aren't they?!) for about 30 minutes while we were waiting.

Whew!! What a full day! I know the 4th is about our nation, but on a personal level, sharing all of that with family and friends makes it all the more special.