Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy 4th Of July!! A Day of Firsts!

Today we celebrate our independence as well as Silas' first 4th of July here at home with us! Interestingly enough five months ago TODAY we were catching a flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to meet our sweet boy. What an awesome day of celebration as a family.
This has been quite a day of firsts at our house! We all slept in and then had a late breakfast. This little lady found some time with her daddy, I love to see the girls' relationship with thier dad, just the look in Liv's eyes, she loves her daddy so much, gotta say he's pretty smitten with her too.


We tidied the house a bit which also included a laundry lesson for the eldest children. We've decided they will start doing their own laundry. This was a first for Skyler. It was time for him to learn.


Mission Laundry: Complete! This boy did GREAT! He's going to make one SUPER husband someday. Not to be outshined - Silas had to get in on the action. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the pool. What else are you supposed to do in 110 degree weather with a pool offering 94 degree waters? Oh yeah eat popsicles!


I love lazy family days. The biggest news of the day is that Silas CAN SWIM!!! Can't believe it? Check out the super cute video below! You'll love it, promise. I taught all of our kids to swim by age three and Silas was a bit behind. David and I have been teaching him for the past few weeks and today it finally clicked! We are so proud of you Silas buddy!


The kids are all a bunch of fish. Skyler and Nichol have been working to perfect their diving skills. Dad helps. Skyler is almost there. In my photography addiction I managed to capture each section of Sky's dive today. Too bad my settings were a bit off and the colors are a bit dark. None the less....here they are. Way to go Skyler!






After lots of swimming we were all famished. David decided we'd recreate the Red Robin Teriyaki chicken burger. He did a FABULOUS job! The grilled pineapple was superb and made the sammy! The kids all loved it and Silas was thrilled with his 4th of July dinner. He wasn't a fan of the deviled eggs!


Last but certainly not least the finale of the day! Silas' first fireworks show! He said they were scary and hung out on his daddy's shoulders the whole time. After waiting way too long for fireworks due to high winds, leaving to head home thinking they weren't happening only to have them start as we neared our house. Finally the fireworks!



Happy Independence Day All!!!!

14 comments:

My Blessed Life said...

Yahoo Silas! Great job! and Skyler the diving looks GREEEEAAAAT! Looks like a fund day at the Shubins and the Teriyaki burgers are my favorite next time I am coming to the Shubins. I am glad you didn't miss the fireworks, we put the kids to bed and started watching a movie when we heard them I had to run and get the kids out of bed and put the moving on pause.

Anonymous said...

What a nice post. It looks like you had a nice 4th.

Brooke said...

Wow, Silas is an amazing swimmer! Great pictures, I love the diving photos.

It looks like you guys had a great 4th of July.

LISA said...

I Love the video of Silas swimming!Great job!Nichol is a great cheerleader!Skyler,if you can help with the laundry and cooking,you'll be every girls dream!!It helps that Skyler is absolutely so cute!!
Best of all, I LOVE the picture of David and Olivia!!!SWEET!!!

Stacie said...

Awesome pictures! Silas is such a cute little swimmer! I used to teach swimming to kids his age - he is doing great! Good job Mom & Dad!! Oh, and I can just feel the heat in the popsicle picture! I remember it well... Good thing for pools!!

Blog Shmog said...

Fun! You guys look like you had a great day! And I love your pool by the way!

The Gresham Clan said...

Looks like you guys are having a GREAT summer! That is wonderful...

Kristin

Annie said...

what a perfect day!! love the pic of Silas eating his popsicle with the goggles on....too cute ;) I can't believe he is swimming. Graet job, Silas! The last photo of your children is so cute! What a blessing--

emily said...

Oh how precious. What a fun 4th of July for the Shubin clan.

Nicholas said...

OMGGGGGoshhh! How cute is that little swimmer! I can't stand that he just puts his whole face in the water like that!! He's a genius!

All the other pics with the kids are great too... especially the dive pics. You've got a bunch of little fishies over there!

I agree about "pitching in" and having chores... builds character and gives them a sense of teamwork. Nick's in charge of feeding the dog and cleaning his room (makes bed every morning)! :)

Erin said...

You have such a stinkin' precious family. We had one kiddo hiding completely under a blanket during fireworks...she was actually shaking when they were over! Probably didn't help that some burning ash landed on her big sister's leg! eek!!! A leetle too close...but they were awesome!

Sarah said...

WOW SILAS!! Amazing! Hes such a speedy little guy! ROFL WE had the EXACT same thing for dinner that night! Cheers! Sounds like you guys had a fun day.

God's Girl said...

I love the fun, lazy, family days too. Great job capturing such sweet family memories. I really enjoyed all the great pics and super cute video.

We watched fireworks on T.V. Kind of sad; huh? Actually, we enjoyed it! HA!

Tara said...

We make Red Robin burgers too! We actualy bought a jar of the Red Robin seasoning and we grill onions, burgers, cheese, make guacamole, fry an egg, put it all together for a divine feast... it is GLORIOUS! Maybe next time we will make the teriyaki chicken burger. Mmmm...

Your 4th of July looks like such a blast! I still want to swim in your pool...and maybe eat a popsicle...red please. :)