Independence Day, er, Weekend!!

It was so fun to have a whole weekend to celebrate Independence Day. We squeezed in a lot of fun parties, meals, family events and still had time to hang out together and prepare for our Pioneer Trek.

Friday (July 2) we drove up to Logan to Uncle John and Aunt Ann's house. They host a big Independence Day party every year and then watch the Logan fireworks. We made the long drive past Charlie's bedtime but it was so worth it to be with John's great family. We love them. Charlie had so much fun running around in the yard and was especially delighted that they had a little table just his size.

Saturday (July 3) we kept up the tradition of attending the Brighton breakfast. John's dad has been going to this fundraising breakfast for the Brighton branch for most of his life. This year, it wasn't as crowded and the weather was crisp and cool.

Later that day, we headed over to our good friends' home for their annual party. It's always so much fun- they have bounce houses and slip and slides for the kids and a delicious dinner catered by Red Iguana for the adults. Last year, they had a mariachi band which scared Charlie. This year, he loved watching and playing with all the kids and eating his own weight in rice and beans.

When we got home, we put Charlie to bed and John and I watched a movie with NO laptops out. That is a big deal around here! Around 10 we heard the fireworks and we watched them from our front porch. It was a perfect date night!

On Sunday (July 4) we kept it pretty relaxed, we went to church and enjoyed a wonderful testimony meeting. Many people spoke of their love and reverence for the patriots of our country and many others spoke about the pioneer heritage we also celebrate this month. I felt moved to speak and bawled my eyes out trying to convey how touched I was by our training Pioneer Trek we had just participated in and urged those attending the actual Trek to keep their hearts open to those feelings. Many people thanked me afterward for my words and said my attitude changed their attitudes about participating.

Monday (July 5) John had the day off of work. We mostly ran errands and started packing for the Trek, which was taking place later that week beginning on Wednesday.