Happy Independence Day!

Friday, the Fourth of July, was a great day for our little family.  Our traditions are pretty well set and I really love them because we came up with them on our own.

We started out the morning with breakfast together and then posed for our customary pictures in the backyard in our red, white, and blue attire.

These kids are getting so big it scares me sometimes, but I love how cute and festive they look next to our pretty red geraniums!

Then we headed to our ward's annual Fourth of July potluck barbecue.  This year we brought Pesto Pasta Salad and Company Jello Salad.  The ward provides the burgers and hot dogs and we had a great turn out this year with lots of yummy picnic food.

Someone brought bubbles for all the kids.

What a handsome little fella.

Genevieve got hers opened and then promptly dumped them on the ground.  That didn't stop her from continuing to "blow bubbles."

When we got home from the picnic we were pretty hot and tired.  We put Genevieve down for a nap, turned on the AC, and settled down for a cool afternoon.  Audrey was pretty excited to work on her workbook, so I let her.  I'm not one to discourage learning!  The rest of us watched TV and tried to snooze.

Eventually Genevieve got up and snuggled with her dad.

Finally, at 7:30, it was time to meet some friends for fireworks at the bottom of our street.  This year the whole Frandsen clan joined us.  The Carnegies, Tessa's sister and boys, and the Butlers were there too.

This is Washington, so of course it was drizzling.

But that didn't stop us from having a great time lighting fireworks.

Genevieve surprised no one by being completely fearless of everything.  I think she would have picked up a flaming firework if we hadn't kept a close eye on her.  She seemed to like the fireworks and all of the people.

I made a whole bunch of these red, white, and blue brownie kebabs for the evening and the Frandsens brought a yummy, giant flag cookie and patriotic layered jello.  This is the first year we've had food and I thought it was great!

Truman and Porter became fast friends and played together most of the evening. 

Genevieve even managed to find some nicer moms than her own to push her on the swing.

Nolan, Genevieve, and Kate got Ashley and Kristen to push them.

Pretty much everyone but us got a big box this year.  We were very impressed by the big fireworks and enjoyed watching them.

Genevieve found Dani's monitor and carried it around talking into it like a phone.

When we finished up we cleaned and swept the street and then took the kids home and put them to bed!  Because we watched big fireworks the night before we didn't feel it was necessary to go out and see more.  Doing our own on the Fourth and then getting the kids to bed at a decent hour is awesome!  Matt and I probably watched a movie or something after the kids were in bed, but I can't remember now.  I just know it was a great holiday.

I am so grateful to be an American, for so many reasons.

Third of July Fireworks

I think that having Independence Day on a Friday is just about perfect.  It means that Thursday evening is the beginning of the weekend, which is perfect for our annual Third of July Fireworks tradition.  As usual, on Thursday, July 3, we met up with the Carnegies, and were joined by the Frandsens this year, to watch a neighboring town's fireworks show.  We had to move from our usual spot in a vacant car lot, to a new place because another car dealer moved in, but it actually turned out to be a better viewing point.  We were happily surprised to see another family we know from our old ward there too! 

It ended up being a very fun night.  I think we all enjoy the fireworks, but I think the real fun is being with friends, eating snacks, and watching the kids play.

Genevieve saw this Mickey chair the Carnegies brought and immediately decided it was hers.  It became her favorite chair of the evening.  When Dani wanted to sit in her own chair, Genevieve grudgingly shared it with her.  It's a good thing Dani's so sweet and generous!  I think these girls are adorable!

The kids were so excited for all the snakes.  I remember really liking them when I was young too, although I can't figure out why now.  Anyway, they stood around and watched them.  Someone, I'm not sure who, although I'm sure it wasn't one of my angels, started saying they looked like poop.  That started all the kids going and pretty soon even the babies were in on it.

We had lots of snacks this year.  We brought popcorn and licorice (Twizzlers for those of us with good taste and Red Vines for everyone else), chips and queso, and Milk Duds.  Tessa made some yummy caramel corn, I brought a bunch of glow-in-the-dark necklaces and bracelets for the kids, and of course we had boxes of Pop-Its.  We've done this enough years that we're getting pretty good at it.

I can't remember what happened here, but Truman was pouting because he felt left out for some reason.  I got this cute picture of some of the kids (Genevieve, Kate, Jack, Lydia, and Audrey)  and then turned around to take a picture of Truman.  He had moved his chair so we would all know he was upset.  That boy...(sigh)

I love these faces!

This was the first year G was really old enough to pay attention to the fireworks and she was impressed.  It was so cute hearing her oooh and ahhhh.

It was a very successful night for all of us even though Joshy sat in the car and Matt had to run Truman across and down the street to a service station to use the restroom.  But no one had an accident and no one threw up so it was a success!  Until next year!