Block Party

 For the 4th of July we had a neighborhood block party.  We got a permit from the city to close down our street.  We have been doing this for the past 4 years.  We rented a bounce house and had lots of games and food.  Everyone brought out their bbq's and grilled up all sorts of amazing things to share. 

 The party was at 5pm but the bounce house showed up at 1pm.  So we got to go have some fun in it before the big kids started jumping. 

 Mark and I even got to enjoy jumping.  Tons of fun! Ila just got to bounce in Marks lap.  She almost fell asleep from the bouncing.

 At 5pm everyone in the neighborhood started coming out.  Everyone brought a dish to share. 

 This party has always been so much fun.  We get to talk with many neighbors that we normally don't see often.  The evening before Mark hung flags going from house to house to make it a bit more festive.

 Mark's mom lives in central Oregon.  She called us Saturday to mention she had to make a quick trip up north for some things.  We told her about the party and she was able to join us.  Every year she hears about the party but has never been able to make it.  So it was very special to have her this year.

 Here is Mark with our friend Steve.  His wife Kara and I went to high school together and now Steve and Mark get together monthly as brother's in Christ and do a Bible study.  

 We had a cupcake decorating station for all the kids.  That was a hit. 

 We also had a smaller bounce house for the little ones. 

 One of the games my mom put together was a pop corn relay race.  The kids has a great time with this.  Our neighbors yard is now littered with pop corn. 

 Of course there were water balloons too!

 Here is my mom with the grand kids.

 Here is Mark's mom Connie holding Ila and my mom Chris.  They both were having a blast playing with the grand kids and talking together for hours!  I think if Connie lived closer they would be great friends. We are so blessed to have such loving family and amazing grandparents!

 My dad also had a great time hanging out with the grand kids. 

 Then as it started getting dark we brought out the fire pits.  We had one and two other neighbors brought out two more.  This year was the first year we couldn't legally do fire works.  So instead we roasted marshmallows.  Levi kept calling them mushrooms, "more mushrooms please."  June first we officially became part of the city so now we have to abide by the rules.  Two blocks away is the city limit so we still got to see and hear many fireworks going off.

This was probably the best 4th of July party yet.