Fourth of July in Silverton

Celebrating the 4th of July begins a day early in our town. July 3rd is known as "Silverton Day" and everyone in town is invited to gather at The Oregon Garden for a free concert and fireworks. We have some friends who

live just next to the gardens and invited us to watch the sky from their yard. I popped a bunch of popcorn and we headed out for the

show. It was so much fun watching the kids lay back on the big blanket and gaze in wonder at the power of pyrotechnics.

The next morning I decided to take Abby Sue to the annual "Old Stuff on Main Street", which is an antique fair that Silverton does each year on the 4th of July. I loved walking with my little daughter, admiring the old houses and gardens together on our way to town. She has grown so independent lately, with likes and dislikes of her own. Daddy gave her $2 to spend on whatever she could find and that money was no doubt burning a hole in pint sized pocket. I was curious to see what she would choose. We admired so many old trinkets and treasures together. I found two adorable owl pillows that a talented lady here in town created and bought them for the girls. Abby Sue found a japanese pink paper parasol for just $1 and decided to spend her extra $1 on a Krispy Kreme donut being sold by the Young Life youth. But, the best find of the day was an old pair of binoculars & case that we found for Ben. We both imagined how much he would love playing Indiana Jones with them. After we bought them and opened up the leather case we saw a name handwritten on the inside of the red felt, it said, "Jones". We were couldn't believe our eyes! What a coincidence! Of course Ben loved everything about the binoculars, but asked Aaron later, "Why would Indiana Jones sell these? They seem very important." So sweet!

The rest of the day was perfectly relaxing... family visiting and eating together all afternoon under the shady grape arbor, watching the kids enjoy the sunshine and company, and later enjoying our own fireworks show in the driveway under the night sky. It really doesn't get any better than that!