4th of july

I think we had a “perfect” Fourth of July this summer.  The weather was absolutely beautiful… not too hot, just perfect all day.  In the morning we got up early went to the Evergreen Fourth of July Parade with Jim’s family, and Richie and Suzie.  It was fun to be out with our family and the community supporting such a fun neighborhood event, and I think it was even more fun for Josh and Jane and the cousins to be out together watching the parade and gathering the candy that was being thrown to all the people on the sidelines.  Taffy, starbursts, suckers, bubble gum, tootsie rolls, smarties, you name it… their little baggies were just stuffed full with candy!  The good news was that they gathered lots of candy, but didn’t really eat any of it.  

In the afternoon we took Josh and Jane for a great and refreshing day of swimming to the Murray Pool, of course, gave them a really good nap, and then headed up Millcreek Canyon for a dinner cookout out with my family.  That was a fun night.  We sat back and relaxed, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, threw a football around, splashed a bit in the creek, and just enjoyed being together.  

The best part of the day was the night!  After the canyon, we all traveled to my cousin’s house right across from Sugarhouse Park and got a front row seat to see the Fourth of July Fireworks.  We love fireworks!  It’s one of our favorite things!  Melissa made homemade grape icecream, just like my mom used to do for everyone, and we sat back eating the icecream and other homemade goodies, and watched a wonderful firework show.  My mom used to make this holiday so much fun with all of her “ooo-ing” and “ahh-ing” at all the wonderful firework displays… I miss her on days like these.  She was the queen of making holidays lots of fun!  We really did have a great day and especially so, because this was the first time that we, as a family, really got to watch the fireworks all together.  I knew Josh and Jane would like them… and they did!  There’s nothing like seeing such great splashes of color and light up in the sky.  And then those great big loud BOOMS echoing off the mountains… it’s the best!  We loved it!