4th of July!!!

I realize I should have posted the 4th of July sooner....like before the 24th of July. But, I figure late is better than never.

For the past few years our 4th of July plans have always been the same and I have Loved it. We have always spent it with family and friends, enjoying the neighborhood party, a BBQ at our house, and an amazing fireworks display ( put on by Jason, Darren and the boys) in front of our house in our little cul-de-sac. This year however, was a little different. My parents, who always spend the 4th of July with us, were out of town, our friends had family in town and were spending it with them, we somehow didn't get or misplaced our invite to the big neighborhood party, and Darren had been at Lake Powell all week, so we didn't have plans....which was a little weird. We thought about going down to the condo in St. George but the kids quickly changed our minds when they reminded us that they always spend the 4th with Jayden and Tegan and wanted to stay and play with friends for the 4th.

Not having plans ended up being just fine. We were invited by friends to go to the parade in Provo, which we did and had amazing seats. Thanks Beau and Leslie (or should I thank their cousins) for camping out on Freedom Blvd. and saving us a spot on the front row. The kids Loved it. We stopped at Krispie Kreme for hot donuts and took a cooler full of juice, chocolate milk, milk and water. The highlights for Addi were the big balloon floats and the Cougar cheerleaders giving her a "High 5". Gavin thought catching a T-shirt and the candy was the greatest ever.....even though the T-shirt is too big for his dad, and Britton had fun with it all...especially giving "high 5's" to the National Guard/Army guys.

After the parade we hooked up with Darren, Sheryl and kids to go boating. Normally this would have been the greatest part of the day, but Jason ended up "face-planting" while wake-boarding and ended up with a concussion. While Jason tried to remember what day it was and why his teeth hurt so bad, the kids rode the tube until Darren got tired of driving in circles.

Instead of BBQ-ing at our house, we ended up at Cindy's. Which was a good thing for me....I had plenty of help from Jason's siblings. By this time Jason needed a little "babysitting" and I needed help while I cooked dinner, fed kids, and ran home for Addi's medicine. Needless to say, I do not have as many pictures of fireworks or festivities this year.