4th of July - "Family Day"

My 4th of July has been a wonderful day of enjoying family. Today is our family's 2nd anniversary with Dariana and it has been a wonderful two years of loving her and watching her grow from a baby that wasn't even sitting alone at the time, to a beautiful toddler full of energy and sheer joy. What a happy family we are.

Today my daughter and her husband had both sides of their family for 'Family Day'. We decided when we were on our trip to Guatemala that we would celebrate every year on the day we were given Dariana and call it 'Family Day'. Both sides of their family would be invited to come and be together and share our love with Dariana and each other. What a wonderful way it is to celebrate the Fourth-of-July, the day our beloved Dariana was given her freedom from poverty in a country where there are too many children born of un-wed mothers and into families so poor they are unable to feed or cloth their own children. And still, they have more and more babies.

People say to us what a lucky little girl Dariana is and yes, I guess she may be in some ways, but it is us, her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that are the lucky ones. She brings us such joy I can't imagine life without her. Watching her and her little cousins play today was such a thrill for me. To see how they interact with one another and to see how they take care of Dariana (she is the youngest) is so sweet. On the swing set it is "watch me Dariana, see how high I can go", and Dariana's reply "push me higher". In the pool it is "look Dari, I can swim underwater" and Dari giggles and kicks her feet and flaps her arms learning to swim with her water wings on. Both families sit on the deck or in the yard watching these beautiful children play and knowing how very lucky we are to have them. Beautiful, healthy, full of love, and having a good time.

I took 'little girl dress-up' nail polish for Dariana today. She has a vivid imagination, much like a child of 5 or 6, and it was only a few minutes after she woke from her nap that she called "Grandmama, lets go put sparkles on our nails", and so we did. She polished over my manicured nails first with pink polish, then red polish, and then topped it with sparkles and stars. I still have a star on my thumb nail, perhaps it will still be there when I go in for my next manicure. I don't mind, it makes me smile and think of Dariana. After she finished my nails she wanted to polish papa's and of course papa complied. The afternoon flew by.

Once back home, DH and I played a game of scrabble and had a glass of wine. As always after a game of scrabble Mr. Maestro ask for his walk, and again papa complied. Maestro knows when the last round of scrabble is being played; I don't know how. We try different tactics to see if we can finish a game without him knowing; so far we've not been able to. Maestro is eleven years old now and I think he knows all the tricks. He lays nearby on the floor and sleeps while the game is in progress and seldom interrupts, but when the last tile comes out of the bag, he is up and whining for his walk. Dogs are amazing too.

I settled on the porch while they were on their walk, then DH joined me once they were back. I knitted and we talked for awhile and listened to some jazz while sipping a glass of wine. A wonderful day. I am so lucky and so thankful for it all.