independence day...

other than Thanksgiving, the 4th of July has got to be one of the best holidays. it's the most stress free holiday we have, no worries for finding the perfect gift, who cares what you wear, and there's plenty of eating and drinking all day. although, the 4yo kept asking why there were no presents at the birthday party, because we explained to him that the 4th of July was America's 234th birthday...still confused when we put him to bed at 11pm!

(what party wouldn't be complete without a tromp in the mud)

what kind of summer BBQ wouldn't be complete without baked beans?! thanks to my mother-in-law i have a great no leftovers recipe (but no pictures because beans are not pretty to look at and they were all gone):

GaGa'a Noise Makers
1 pound ground beef
1 lg onion
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
can of pinto beans
giant can of plain baked beans
bottle of your favorite bbq sauce
ketchup

brown the meat (drain) and continue cooking with the onions and peppers. mix the meat and beans together in a big baking dish. stir in the bbq sauce and a couple squirts of ketchup. cover with foil and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. ENJOY!!

Jess, made us some Watermelon Margaritas, but unfortunately those were gone in less than 30 minutes, so no pictures of those either. hopefully she'll be posting on K is for Kitchen later today...

the ladies

(minus Kat...we missed you!)