This year commemorates the 250th year of our nation's independence! It's kind of cool to be a part of that history and kind of surreal to realize I probably won't be around to celebrate America's 300th birthday. Nonetheless, we celebrated as much as we could. There have been crazy wildfires in Utah that have led to a statewide ban on fireworks. Each individual municipality was allowed to decide if they would allow fireworks in their cities/towns, but since we live in the county, we had to follow the state ban. We were all a little sad and disappointed that our traditional fireworks show would be canceled, but we made the best of it. This year, the 4th of July landed on a Saturday. On Friday (July 3rd), we took the new boat out to Yuba for a day on the lake. Everyone (except Amber, Jacob, and Beau) joined us for all, or part, of the day. Even Danny's girlfriend, Addie, joined us. We surfed, swam, laughed, and enjoyed our time together. The Hurtado family was also on the lake that day. We met up with them for a little bit and the boys were able to surf a "bowl". The wave from the Hurtado boat met up with our wave to create a "bowl" that they could both surf. After hours in the sun, we headed home to rest up for the next day's festivities.
Saturday evening, as in years passed, we hosted another 4th of July party. Our gathering was a little smaller this year. Some people were sick and others just couldn't make it, but we still had between 50-60 there. Our kids and grandkids showed up earlier in the day to swim while the pool was still quiet. Once everyone else showed up, the swimming continued then we feasted on our traditional burgers, hot dogs and sides. The rest of the evening, we played yard games, swam some more, jumped on the trampoline, and enjoyed associating with all our friends and family. By dusk most of our friends and families had left. Since we weren't allowed to do fireworks, there was no reason for them to stay. I was still a little sad about it, but the earlier end to the evening wasn't unwelcome either. For those that did stay (the Irons family, Dallin and Audrey), I busted out some little fiber optic wands and glow sticks. We had fun listening to music and creating our own evening light show. I was actually surprised at how much fun we had.
Still, the next day (Sunday, July 5th), Jonas asked if we could go into Payson to one of the designated spots to set off fireworks to light a few little ones we had. We grabbed some smoke bombs, little spinners, and a couple funny animal themed ones. Jonas enjoyed safely setting off a few within the rules we were given. (I love my rule following boy!)
It was definitely a different 4th, but it was memorable! I am grateful for this country. I'm grateful for the freedoms I take for granted. I'm grateful for the ability to worship according to my faith. I'm grateful to gather my family and celebrate this amazing country we get to call home.
