Happy Birthday, USA!!

This 4th of July, we headed up to good ole' Malad to celebrate with Grammie and Papa Rex. With the exception of last year it has become a tradition. This is something we (especially the kids) really look forward to. We all woke up really early to go to our ward breakfast and then made sure we headed up to Malad in time to make it for their parade.

We found a good, shady spot and were looking extra festive thanks to Grammie. She surprised the girls with really cute hair bows.

This is what a small town parade looks like...

... horses, old people...
...cute little floats...
... more cute little floats...
...the high school marching band, without the marching...
...and then there was this car if thats what you want to call it. It didn't really fit in, but it was very cool nonetheless. The parade was very cute. The best part for the kids is that they scored in the candy department. All the people in the parade threw handfuls of candy out to the kids.


After the parade, we mosied on over to Main Street to see the shootout...

...just when you thought you knew who the bad guy was...

...it turns out to be the town Doc. Good thing they did her in.

After lunch we spent some time at the pool. It was so nice for a while to be the only ones there.

The kids couldn't get enough of the slides. Emma even qualified to go down The Slide of All Slides. You had to be 8 and be able to Freestyle the width of the pool two times in order to go down.

Being silly!!

A fun filled day always equals a nice big nap.

After a totally awesome steak dinner we staked out our seats and got ready for the show.

What's 4th of July without Smores?

After the Smores, we designated Lee to be the pyro for the evening. He did a fantastic job with the entertainment.

What was so cool this year was that not only were we able to see the the Malad fireworks perfectly, but there were also so many other areas close by doing great fireworks. It was 360 degrees of fireworks for us, all in Grammie and Papa's backyard!

I just love this time of year when we can celebrate our freedom. I am so thankful to be able to live in this country. This year I thought a lot about the soldiers fighting to help protect that freedom. Let's not forget about them and their families. We pray for their safe return.

Happy Birthday, America!