Happy 3rd of July! (and 4th too!)

 We started the celebration of our freedom with our ward party/BBQ. There was a little relay race for the kiddos to do whilst we were waiting for the fireworks to start. M had fun and ran fast but...

 K LOVED it! He ran so fast that I couldn't get a better picture. At least you can tell that he is loving it!

 Then there was a three legged race. Our lovely offspring have never done this, so it was pretty awesome to watch them and laugh with/at them. I am a bit surprised that M didn't just pick him up and carry him. That's what she does at home. One of my favorite things about the fourth of July celebration is being able to eat hot dogs. I love hot dogs! When I eat them on the fourth of July I don't feel any guilt, tis the season for hot dogs and chips, two of my favorite things!

 We ended the ward party watching the city's fireworks. I was worried that the buildings would be in the way, but our church building has the perfect few.

 Not to mention that we were able to avoid all the traffic that is usually associated with fireworks. If you use your imagination doesn't it kind of look like a palm tree and grass?! That's exactly what I thought!

 The morning of the fourth brought hot weather and a daddy that didn't have to be to school/ free labor work until three that afternoon. So we took advantage and went swimming. How can you not laugh when you look at this picture?! K finally discovered goggles and has said more than once that,"every weekday when we go swimming, I am going to wear these goggles. That way I can see the alligators that I swim with under the water. The alligators are nice to me under the water all through these days." I'm not real sure where the phrase"all through theses days" came from, but he says it a lot.


We took B to the hospital for school because he didn't think that there would be any scheduled cases since it was the fourth of July. Of course that doesn't matter, there was one case that he had to stay and do. So, we dropped him off and then came back two hours later to get him. He was on call all night, but he decided that he was going to be really brave and risk going to the fireworks and the pier.

I think that this picture is so awesome! I love that we even got big waves for the picture!

 I am so glad that he was willing to come to the pier with us even though he was on call. We said a prayer to know if it would be ok to go. In the prayer we said that if we found a close parking spot that we were going to take that as the answer that it would be ok for B to come with us. We found a spot a block away from the pier! So we parked and went to beach! 

 There was a group pretty close to us that shot a few fireworks right before the big ones started. They were so awesome! They were big and loud and got us in the mood for even bigger and louder ones!

 Now, we love fireworks! When we lived in Utah we would go to the BYU stadium and watch the fireworks there. I honestly didn't think that BYU could be out done. Oh how wrong I was!

Seeing fireworks being shot off the pier, out over the ocean was infinitely better that BYU's fireworks. I am so glad that we braved the crowds and that we went. I don't know if we'll get the chance to see them this way again. This was the perfect way to end the fourth of July. The only thing that maybe would have made it a bit better would have been to have a hot dog or two!