The French Family: Happy 4th

This past weekend was a ton of fun. On Saturday, Shawn and Jase went out on a boat with friends and did some good fishing. Later that evening we went to a pool party down the street and we had fun in the pool and visiting with neighbors. I brought over this fruit pizza, which is probably my favorite summer dessert. It's not too heavy and has a freshness about it with the fruit. Even though I've made fruit pizza several times, this was my first attempt at our USA flag. Super fun!

And speaking of the USA, I was super convicted going into the weekend. Shawn and I watched "13 Hours" which is about the terrorist attack on US people {US Ambassador and CIA} on September 11, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya. It was hard to watch at times, especially since it was based on a true story, and it was very eye opening because let's just be honest, I live in a bubble here. Zero persecution, nice home, close to no poverty around. During my devotion time over the weekend, it was a time of repentance for me, for taking my freedom for granted. People have fought for my freedom and still are today; thank you for your sacrifice and dedication. And in light of the recent events this week, I am shifting my focus on praying for unity for our country. Super sad that the enemy is working in lives and turning us against one another. May God have mercy on us for our actions and may we turn to Him. Ok, I'll lighten the mood...how about that fruit pizza?! But seriously, I would recommend watching "13 Hours" if you have not seen it.

Sunday evening we had an impromptu block party in front of our house. We fired off fireworks and ate some yummy treats with neighbors.

Finn was not so sure of the fireworks, but Ally seemed to do better this year with the noise. And little Maebry, she was a champ. They did not phase her one bit; I was surprised!

I love that these ladies are my neighbors. They are great women to be around!

I got a selfie with Mae inside before calling it a night. Sweet girl.

The next morning, Jase and I woke up for a little exercise. We were back at it with another 5K. If you remember the one we did on Mother's Day weekend, he had a rough start, but he did so much better with this one. We kept a good pace and I was happy with how we finished. Of course I waited on him to at the end and what does he do, sprints to the finish line! LOL! He finished at 37:06 and I was 37:21. He was 4th in his age category and I was 18th in mine. I'm glad we did it together! This run definitely had more people running and we were running on concrete, which I like better than loose gravel as before. My time was nearly 3.5 minutes faster than the last one we ran, so I was excited about that! Now if I can just keep up the running at home, I can keep improving on my time.

After the race, Jase and I hurried over to the Denton Square where the Yankee Doodle Parade was going on. Ally was walking with her AHG Troop and she loved it! This was her first parade to be a part of and she was super excited!

Here is a clip of Ally with her troop. She was so happy to see us!

This group opened up the parade. Very lively!

After she finished, I brought her back to our spot and she got to see the last bit of it. Her troop was one of the first groups to pass by us. And little Finn was still not awake and he camped out in the back of the Suburban for the majority of the parade. However, as soon as we said donuts, he perked right up and said "I want donuts!" Of course!

We went to a hotspot right off the square that Shawn had heard about: Hypnotic Donuts. It was packed and by the time we got to the counter to order they were out of yeast donuts. I asked if this was the norm and the worker told me no, with the 4th it brought in a ton of people. The donuts we did order were tasty and Shawn and I split a honey chicken biscuit, which was good. It reminded me of Chick-Fil-A's chicken biscuit.