What a Day!

Happy 4th of July, or as we were trying to teach Paxton, Happy Birthday America!

The day started out well! With a nap. This is my first year being away from Provo for a long time. I didn't have to work the night before (sorry girls, I thought about you all night long) I didn't try to sleep while worrying about our house and all of the crazies on the parade route...We even slept in!!!

We got the kids dressed and we made breakfast. Then I had a photo shoot with my princess.

First she was shy.
Then she pretended I wasn't there

Then she worked the camera!
That's my girl!
The boys swam in their pool all morning. We got it the night before and have NEVER made a better purchase! That thing is priceless!

I made a cake in preparation for seeing Dan and Sarah later. Ryan and I decided to make a flag cake out of shortcake instead of regular cake which automatically meant whipped cream instead of icing...

It was the wrong choice!

We ended up having to eat it right away instead of at the BBQ. It was good!

After cake we headed over to
Dan and Sarah's for a BBQ. They let us hang out with them and their friends for awhile before they hit the demolition derby and we hit Melba for some action.

When we got to Melba we realized how spoiled we were in Provo. EVERYONE told me that this was the place to be for the 4th. It was a little different than we expected but we had fun!

The boys jumped in the jump house

Shelby looked cute

Pax kicked tail on horse shoes (they are HARD to play when they are plastic!)

Gauge won a martian when he threw bean bags at Mickey Mouse, he loved it! (the martian)

They took a train ride

We needed drinks because it was approx 200 degrees...

then we headed home for a BBQ and swimming

Hot Dogs

and popsicles

The boys had quite a day and fell asleep early. When the fireworks started Ryan and I decided to see what we could see. When we got outside people were shooting off fireworks from EVERYWHERE! In Utah we have what are called Fire restrictions because it is a desert and some people are crazy. That must not be the case here. All of the fireworks we always knew to be illegal were going off all around us. So we climbed up onto the roof of the house and we watched as Idaho celebrated the 4th of July!

It was absolutely overwhelming!

I read this quote while I was looking for things to do for the 4th of July in Idaho, written by John Adams to his wife on the 3rd of July:

"It (Independence Day) ought to be celebrated with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of the Country to the other..." That's how I felt that it was when everyone around us was lighting fireworks. I imagined that the whole Country was celebrating this precious day!

Uh, that picture doesn't do it justice! :)

This is us on top of the roof, enjoying our first Independence day together in Idaho!

What a wonderful day!

We hope you had a wonderful Independence Day!