Saturday, July 14, 2007

Celebrating Our Independence!

Well, it's been quite some time since I've been able to post here at the blog, thus I give my apologies. Life has been busy but wonderful here at the Splitty home, and we hope that the same holds true for you! We've got lots of catching up to do, so we'll start by recapping our Fourth of July celebrations!

We spent the day with Kelly's parents touring downtown Seward, after all, it IS the Fourth of July City!! And of course, Maddingly wore her new dress from Auntie Colleen! Then it was back home to get prepped for the full evening that lay ahead.

My mom and step-dad came up from Kansas to finish some electrical work in the kitchen and just happened to bring some fireworks along....oh my. They also took Dixie to her new home when they left later that weekend: my grandmother's house. After doing some "warm ups" with grandma and grandpa, the real fun arrived by way of LOTS of FRIENDS!! The Lord has truly blessed us with such sweet fellowship here in Utica. We completely took over the church alley next to our home, it was quite a site!

Our thanks to all who came and shared in the celebration of our independence! (And an extra special thank-you to the Rathjen's for the S'MORES supplies, and you too Kelly, for letting us roast the marshmallows over your grill!) Here's the day via pictures, hope you enjoy!
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Cassandra

The Dress and Daughter BEFORE doing the snakes....



Gramma Sally!


Maddingly having a nice moment with her ice cream at Seward's Food Alley. The kids also enjoyed cotton candy and funnel cakes. What a lunch! :O)






The dress and daughter AFTER doing the snakes...Hmmmm, where's my stain stick?



Yes, you can have some too, Kelly.


Now that's how you throw a popper!! Nice wind up Kavan!





Kavan and Crazy Gramma watching the show




A Bit of History: The Declaration of Independence was written and accepted on the Fourth of July in the year 1776. Of the 13 colonies, 9 voted in favor of the Declaration, 2 (Pennsylvania and South Carolina) voted No, Delaware undecided and New York abstained.The signing continued to take place through the month of August, but the 4th of July remained the accepted date of America's independence from Great Britain. The current president of the Continental Congress was John Hancock, and his signature made the document official. He is said to have signed with "a great flourish" , so that King George could read it without spectacles! And yes, this is where the phrase, "give this your John Hancock" comes from. ;O) The first newspaper to print the Declaration in its entirety was the Pennsylvania Evening Post on July 6th, 1776. And the first public reading was heard at Philadelphia's Independence square, amidst cheering and bell ringing, on the 8th. The "Province Bell" there in Independence Hall was later renamed as we know it, "The Liberty Bell", which bears this inscription to this day:

Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So..I'm kind of (okay, totally) in love with your whole family, but I kind of want to steal Maddy. For real. If you guys ever need a vacation or something, you can totally send her here. Seriously want to cover her with kisses and huggies. I love your pictures!!!! Why do you live in Mitford?? My favorite is the one of Maddy with black on her hands and face. SO cute! It looks like you guys had so much fun - I wish I was there!!! Also..Dixie has a new home?

The Splitty Family said...

Yes, Dixie has a new home. She was starting to get a little sick and tired of the kids' antics, so we thought she deserved a better home with less "stimulation", lol. So, my grandmother loves dogs and hers died a few years back, and it turns out that it was a perfect fit. Dixie is loving it there, and it's all my grandma can talk about. She's really enjoying having "someone" to take care of again, :O) so I'm glad that we could do that for her. I'm going to call you tonite, sorry it took so long! LOVE YOU!
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Cass