God Bless America

I firstly want to say that I love this holiday. There is something very special about celebrating freedom and independence. Tyler and I were discussing that the true meaning of the Fourth of July is often lost amid barbeques and fireworks. (Could it really be true that we have lost the meaning of 4th of July more than the meaning of Christmas?) We are very blessed to live in this country and I challenge each of you to get your family together and read the Declaration of Independence and/or the Constitution. Our children should know something about our country.

Our family had a great fourth. We went bright and early to see the hot air balloons.

I have always thought about going but we never attended until this year. Wow, there was quite a crowd. We didn't get there until 6:30a and by then all the balloons were full and ready to lift off.

We watched them all take off and then we went home. Next year I want to come a little earlier and have breakfast on a blanket while the balloons fill. The girls really seemed to enjoy looking at the balloons; it was just hard to wake people up in the morning.

From there we went home for a leisurely morning of getting ready for family pictures (see previous post). I am very pleased that while we were at the mall, I stopped by the HerStyler booth and had them show me how to use the flat-iron I bought a couple of months ago. We curled all the girls' hair (after the pictures—too bad) but now I finally know how to use that thing. It has been lying there confounding me for too long. Now that I know how to use it, I hope I will bring it out more often.

Next, we stopped by the Freedom Festival in Provo, but it was soooo crowded. Tyler and I quickly decided that it wasn't worth the time nor effort to be there; so we bought a funnel cake, split it with the family and headed home where we napped all afternoon off and on. Everyone was a little tuckered out after the early morning. Ivory and Robyn both fell asleep in the car on the way home and Tyler and I didn't make it through the whole afternoon. Only June (who seems to need less sleep) stayed awake the whole time.

In the evening we went over to the Scera Park for our annual barbecue and water games (okay, so this is only the second year).

The Johnson's and the Kinsey's joined us, and we had a lot of fun. Tyler grilled burgers and we chowed down on some good food. And then (even though it was quite overcast) we played in the water. I think the best game by far is Duck, Duck, Goose using a sponge to tap people on the head. Everyone was fairly wet by the end of that game. Here is most of us.

Then we played some other water games but mostly it devolved into find something holding water and splash the person nearest you.

This was fun until some of the kids were absolutely soaked (at one point, I think June didn't have a dry spot on her shirt). So to ease the chill, we ate cake and then headed home once again to clean up and dry off (somehow, it is not as bad to be soaking if you can eat cake at the same time).

Then we did the firework thing (of course). The Johnson's were nice enough to join us again and they brought some great ones with them (thanks for the tanks and the finale fireworks). The girls were thrilled to sit and watch all the action around them. This picture cracks me up because Robyn's face is so animated.

She really liked the fireworks. June (who has been watching too much So You Think You Can Dance) was judging all the fireworks. She would say, "I'm the first judge and I thought that was fantastic." Then she started giving a score for each firework. They started small...25, 42, 80 (Sunny, I think we figured it out: it was cumulative scoring). Eventually the score reached the hundreds, then thousands, millions, zillions, and finally infinity. We must have had the best fireworks ever, or maybe she is a very generous judge. We had fun with the glow-sticks and sparklers too.

The pictures weren't always the best because of the lack of light, but here is one of all the kids. This was taken during a loud firework (can you tell by Robyn plugging her ears).

Ivory didn't like that one either.

Finally the fun came to a close, and everyone crashed in bed. It was a great day though (thanks again to those who came and shared the festivities with us). We hope that you all had a wonderful day enjoying your family and the country we love.