Flash Back Friday

The 4th of July is a conflicting holiday for me! I guess you could say we have a love/hate relationship.

I hate it because of all the stupid fireworks! They are NOT my favorite! And this year was especially crazy! Utah's firework laws changed so that the big aerial fireworks could be shot off from home. Not only that but the 3 days before/3 days after rule went away so people we shooting off those dumb fireworks ALL MONTH LONG!!!

But......

I am a huge history buff so it makes it one of my most favorite holidays! I love celebrating our founding fathers and thinking back on how big of a miracle it truly is that we became a country!! I love singing patriotic songs {God Bless The USA by Lee Greenwood always brings tears to my eyes} and honoring our countries heroes!

This 4th of July was chilly!! And it even rained! I don't think I can even remember the last time we had a cold Independence Day!! With the holiday falling on Sunday our celebrations were spread out over the entire weekend! On Saturday night we went to my Grandma's house in Riverton to spend time with my Mom's side of the family! We had lots and lots of treats and then laid out blankets in her backyard to watch the Riverton firework show.

{Notice all the blankets and jackets.....}

My camera batteries we almost dead that night so it was having a hard time focusing. I tried to take a few pictures of the Riverton firework show, but most of them didn't turn out! I wish the grand finale pictures would have worked. As much as I hate fireworks, that finale was pretty awesome!

We spent Monday celebrating with my Dad's side of the family. We went to see the movie 17 Miracles, which was amazing. I cried... a lot......I wouldn't have survived being a pioneer! I would have told people to leave me next to the bushes and to go on without me! I am SO grateful for them!

After the movie we all went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner!! It was fun having everyone together!

That night everyone came back to our house for delicious homemade ice cream and of course... fireworks

My mom made fantastic vanilla ice cream and we tried a new strawberry recipe! It was SO yummy!! We have made it so many times since them because we loved it so much!!

Everyone stayed pretty late and I think we all wished that we didn't have to go back to work the next day!

My cousin Katie brought her new puppy {Nike} over with her!! We were surprised at how much she didn't seem to mind the fireworks!! She is so stinkin cute and everyone loved playing with her!!

After everyone left, we gave my Dad his Father's Day presents {we were out of town that weekend in St George so we were late on actually celebrating the holiday with him}. It was so dark by then that he had to use a flashlight to see everything!!! Haha!!