Life Thru a Linds: 4th of July

Just one of my favorite holidays of the year!

I love the celebration of our freedom and the amazing country that we live in.

I love that we spend this holiday with our best friends.

It is just something we look forward to each and every year.

This was our 17th annual celebration at Camp David in Granbury.

Celebrate-Always made these incredible tanks for us and I just thought they turned out perfect!

We will wear them for years to come for sure.

We had so much fun swimming and fishing and eating and golfing and playing with friends. Thank you Bryce Pool for the pictures. They are always takes the best!

On the putting green...

We even got to get out on the water this year!

All of the rain has helped every lake in Texas fill up and we loved it!

Tubing was the fan favorite. Kinley did not let a smile leave her face!

One of our very favorite times ever is to go to the Granbury Square for the parade on the morning of the 4th. This year, we all packed up and were ready to go without exception.

And a family selfie excited and on the way...

But, this year is one we will never forget for a very different reason.

#Ty

On the way to the the parade we knew it would be crazy-filled with people, so Ben and I discussed a plan. Whoever was NOT holding Dylan would be responsible for watching Ty. We knew Kinley would stay close but we didn't want Ty walking off.

Even with a plan in place, things went wrong.

We were stuck in the back of a crowd and were working our way up closer. Ty handed his water bottle to Ben to put the cap back on and when he handed it back, Ty was gone. There were 6 adults with us and we stayed calm as long as we could but eventually all ended up in a complete, emotional state of panic.

It was like a slow nightmare.

Some people told us they saw him go one way so I walked there first. At that moment some soldiers were going through the parade and the crowd was giving a standing ovation. We couldn't see anything. I was walking through the crowds asking if people had seen a little 3 year old boy in this matching t-shirt. We involved the police that were helping with the parade. It couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 minutes that he was missing but, it felt like an eternity.

Kinley was crying and panicked too and it was so sad.

Finally, from the OPPOSITE direction than the way we were told he went, he came walking with two sweet high school girls down the sidewalk towards us. They said they asked him where his mom was and he took them right to me.

He wasn't scared a bit.

He was a little overwhelmed when we were crying and hugging him tight.

The whole experience rocked my world that day. It sent me into a tailspin for a majority of the day. I just couldn't get over how fast it happened and I didn't want to be three inches from him.

As we have reflected on that day since then and talked to people about it, the overwhelming majority of parents have had the same experience at some point with one of their kids. It was such a reminder to me that even with both parents around and a plan, things can still happen.

I praise God it all worked out in the end.

And I also pray that we aren't all scarred for life and avoid the 4th of July parade at all costs in the future. I don't want to live in fear, just keen awareness.

We've never been more excited to get back to the house and see these sweet silly faces.

(Notice Ty's police officer sticker on his shirt he got from the officer after he was found)