Fourth of July

For the first time, Sue, Dani, Rhonda and I managed to get up early and take in the Freedom Festival’s Balloon Fest. It was an awesome spectacle of colorful and varied balloons. It was interesting to see how they were pumped up and filled with air before they took flight. The crowd was huge and there was a definite feeling of anticipation and excitement in the air. We will most definitely do that again!
The Fourth of July was something of a whirlwind. The annual Family Fireworks Extravaganze at Candice's and Andy house was amazing. It sure got the attention of the neighbors---shoot we just about burned up one of their cars. And Kirk brought a few special fireworks that dazzled everyone and added a special excitement to the evening. What a fun show. BJ, Rhonda, and I also got to do a bit of experimenting with our cameras trying to capture the magic of the sparklers. And all of the kids were willing to pitch in to help make some fun photo memories as we learned how to outline them with fire.
The cherries we picked from Candice and Andy's back yard were perfect and made for great spitting-the-pit competitions. The whole neighborhood could be getting volunteer cherry trees spring up next year. Thanks Andy and Kirk for being the official, extraordinaire fireworks masters. No one does it better. The singing, laughter, and all made it a terrific time. What a great bunch of people to be able to hang out with for an evening.
Andy and Rhonda were kind enough to get up a 3 am and trudge down to Center Street Saturday morning and save a place for the rest of us to come and enjoy the parade. It was the best spot we've had in years and the weather was spot-on right for the occasion. Perfect. We even enjoyed a bit of a shower but we didn't get wet because we were under the trees out in front of Memorial Park. The parade was fun, but I think the missionaries caused the biggest stir in the crowd. Rhonda spotted Dakota in the American Fork band and tried to get photos of him. I looked for him and I guess he walked right passed me. I never saw him. There was lots of variety in the parade that made it fun, but I always enjoy the horses and the cars. They didn't have as many horses as I would like, but there were some great cars. Old ones, new ones, and some custom-built ones.
The show that night at the Stadium of Fire was a good show. Anyway, it was a fun 4th of July; mostly because we got to spend some good time together with our family. We have a great family. Always fun to be around. There is a lot of love in this family and it’s very much appreciated. We live in a wonderful, amazing country, we have the gospel to give us a firm footing in life and, all in all, I don't know how it could be any better than that.