Happy 4th of July!

Time for our annual 4th of July party at my parents house.  July 4th is probably one of my most favorite holidays just because it's been a tradition for so long.  I have been doing it since I was a kid and now I have kids that get to come and be part of the same tradition.  I love it!  We drove down to my parents house on Wednesday night, which was nice to be able to hang out for a day before all the masses of family came into to town.  There were lots of activities so it made it a nice week to go and hang out with everyone. Thursday we went over to Chad's parents house and swam in their pool.  It was fun it was just our family, Melanie and Chad, and Bryce and Amy.  It was a little hard just because it was a deeper pool and the kids don't quite know how to swim yet, they are getting there but not yet.  IT was fun though and it wore them out good so they would sleep well too.

Friday we headed to the Provo Parade.  The kids are all loaded up and ready to go.  They all had sunglasses that they were so excited to wear.  I think the girls wore them the whole day and never took them off. 

This year it was very hot at the parade and where we were sitting the shade didn't last very long.  Plus I think this was the first year that I could remember getting to the parade and it had already started, so our seats weren't as good either.  It was hard to see and hot so it really wasn't as enjoyable this year as it has been in the past.  Next year I think it would be fun if we could get up early and actually save spots for everyone to sit at so we could actually watch the parade and enjoy it in the shade.  Besides the heat and the visibility issues, it was still fun to be with the family and continue the tradition.

Brayden and McKinley throwing snaps

Melanie and Chad actually announced that baby Devore would be coming this February with the snaps.  It was a super cute way to announce to the family.  We are so excited for them and can hardly wait to see and hold another little niece or nephew.

SISTERS!!!

Mom, Dad, and Clara

I caught Christine trying to take a picture of me while I was taking a picture of her...:)

Cousins!  It was fun because Nicole is staying at my parents house with the kids.  Our kids had so much fun playing together.  It's always fun to get to know your cousins and spend time with one another.  I have tons of fond memories with my cousins.

Preston's not quite sure if he wants to eat the licorice...

I think he decided it was ok to eat

Hey...who's that cute couple!?!  I have one good looking hubby!!

After the parade we we headed over to a park for to have lunch.  We all picked up our own food and headed over.  It was nice to hang out and let the kids play. Brayden loved the slide, he went down it a gazillion times.

 Preston even liked it.  Tyler was so good to help him up there so he could go down.

The boys were having fun with Amy.  They were throwing the bark up and watching it fall.

They filled up the frisbee and then dumped it out.

Mom and Aunt Sue got out wooden planes that the kids got to shoot balls out.  It was fun the kids liked shooting the balls out as far as they could go.

That night we went up to the park by my parents house and played "still the bacon".  It was a game that Taylor taught to all of us.  It was a lot of fun and we all got candy too.

Nicole and Eva

Christine and Ryan

Lining up to play the game

Once we finished our game we headed down for fireworks.  I was going to try and take pictures of the fireworks but, I didn't so oh well.  It was pretty incredible the amount of "up in the air"  fireworks there were.  I honestly felt as if I was at the stadium of fire.  It was so loud and crazy, it could have been a war zone if I didn't know better.  It was so beautiful and fun to watch.

Saturday the boys got up and went golfing and us girls went shopping which was fun as always.  Then later that afternoon we went over to the Lindon pool and let the kids swim.  We followed it by eating pizza and looking at the moon through Ryan's telescope.  It was pretty cool and a fun day.  Sunday we went to church and had dinner all together before we headed back to Idaho.    I am grateful for the freedoms we have and the wonderful family I get to share it with as well.