Happy 4th!

I LOVE this holiday! We were so caught up with all the fun that I took ZERO pictures! (pathetic, I know.) Here's the rundown of our day...We woke up and went to my mom's house for breakfast. Darin has never liked the parade (due to crowds, heat, length, and I'm sure I'm missing a few), so we decided to skip the parade this year. We ate a delicious breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, fruit, and juice. While we were waiting for the parade-goers to come back we filled up water balloons (150 of them). After everyone was home we started to play cards and visit while we were gearing up for the water balloon fun. That's when Livvy came in and announced that all the balloons had been popped! Warren and his cousin Bridger had a great time outside (150 water balloons worth of fun), so instead of water balloon tosses and water fights, we played "vacuum" and cleaned up all the balloon remnants. It was almost as fun. After we cleaned up from breakfast we headed out to my brother's neighbor's pool. It was perfect! The pool had a slide and a diving board, and we all had a great time. Next on the agenda was more food! We went to Max's house for fajitas, corn on the cob, chips, and lots of treats. After our bellies were satisfied we headed over to my brother Mark's house to ride horses. It was great! All the kids got to ride, including David, and they even got to help Mark and Janet feed the horses some watermelon. The poor horses have never had so much dirt covered watermelon in all their lives! The kids would obediently put their hands out flat with watermelon ready, and the second the horse lips touched them the watermelon went in the dirt. Horse slobber isn't a favorite of kids, I'm assuming, but it was cool to have the experience! Just as it was getting dusk-ish we headed back to my parents' house for fireworks. We had a pre-show with our grocery store fireworks and sparklers then settled in for the grand Stadium of Fire fireworks (we see them perfectly from my parents' yard). At the end of the day we were all exhausted, but so grateful to be able to have such a fun day, and spend it with our family. I love this country. I know I don't fully appreciate how good we have it, but there are times I sit and ponder how blessed we truly are. It's easy to get caught up in wanting the bigger and better everythings, but if I take a step back I realize there are millions of people in the world who would give anything to be in my shoes. I am so thankful for the men and women who make it possible for me to have such a great life, and for so many who came before who had a vision of what this country could be. In the words of the Hope of America kids choir, "America Rocks!"