Fourth of July

I know I'm a little slow getting things posted, but I didn't want to forget possibly the only sunny days we've had this summer.  (No joke, it hasn't been consistently warm here since the first week of July, and that only lasted about four days!)

We had a very nice July 4th.  I ran in the Fourth of July 5K fun run in the morning, then headed home to shower and get the family ready for the parade.  Brad drove Nate and Kylie down to Tacoma for EFY in the morning while I was running.  When he got back, we headed down to Winslow.  It was very strange celebrating with only half of my kids, a little taste of the future I guess. 

We met up with some friends to watch the parade. They had just come home from vacation with a new family member, an adorable puppy!

 

I love seeing the Service men and women in their dress uniforms.  It gives me a little chill and reminds me of the reason we're celebrating this great holiday.  I feel so blessed to live in a free country and I'm so grateful for all the men and women who fight for those freedoms all around the world everyday.

Ben was poised and ready with his squirt gun, to "cool off" any sweaty parade participants.  He surprised the cheer leaders and the girls' softball all-stars!

Brad with Rolo, the Cook's new puppy.  He enjoyed playing with him, but agreed that we will not ever be getting a puppy in our family!

One of the liveliest floats was the one from Island Church.  They had a whole band singing and dancing, and a twirling cake!  It made me a little sad that our ward didn't follow through with plans to have pioneers and a handcart in the parade, but as Brad commented later, "Which church would you rather go to?  The one with the rock band, or the one with the hot, sweaty people pulling a handcart?"  So maybe it was a good thing!

This was my favorite group, Toast from Blackbird Bakery!  Everyone says they have the best toast, and they even sell t-shirts that say "I Love Toast!"

After the parade, we headed over to the Knights for a picnic.  Our stake president's counselor, President Gorman, brought his potato gun.  This is our hostess, Stephanie, launching the gun!  Love the look on her face!

Three of our friends' families have recently gone insane brought home English Mastiff puppies.  They all came to the picnic, and here they are "greeting" each other.

The food was plentiful and delicious, the company was fun and also plentiful,

and the fireworks, well, the fireworks were amazing! I tried to take some pictures of them with the "fireworks" setting on my camera, but it wasn't working very well and I got tired of missing them, so I decided to just sit back and enjoy watching them.  It was a wonderful 4th, the perfect way to start our summer!