Happy 4th

The 4th of July is one of our favorite holidays! We had a busy week of celebrating, and on the 4th it felt like we never stopped! 

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This blog is for my children and for me to look back and be reminded of this charmed time in our of lives. For the 3 people who still read blogs, please excuse the mundane; Our week in a nutshell has gone like this: On Monday we had swim lessons, then a play date with a family of new neighbor friends, Hailey's nap time, Seven Peaks in the early evening and Fireworks in our circle that night with family and neighbors. Tuesday we had swim lessons, Warnock cousins over to play all day (Ashley's Ballet and Hailey's nap during that too), and Granite School fireworks late at night. Wednesday was the East Millcreek parade & carnival, swimming bbq with the Warnock cousins, swimming at the neighbor's (Hailey's nap), Nana's house, then late Holladay City fireworks. Thursday we had swim lessons and then spent the day feeling grateful for the rain and a chance to lounge! Poor Hailey had a fever starting on Monday night and was often grumpy and wiped out. We did our best to keep her happy and home when we could. 

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Starting out the week; posing after church on Sunday. 

 Asking kids to take a posed picture after 3 hours of church is probably too much but, I keep on trying anyway. The picture below is amazing, all 3 kids sad, sad, and sad!  

Soon 2 of the 3 cheered up, so that was pretty good. Hailey ended up with a fever the next day, so her grumpiness was excused. 

 Each 4th of July we go to the East Millcreek parade that starts just down the street from us. It's small, (though it doesn't seem small) and anyone can be part of it. We weren't prepared to walk in it this year, but next year we want to again. 

 The kids gathered lots and lots of candy from parade walkers. Andrew is more of a rule follower and only goes after candy that is thrown near him or at least not out in the middle of the road. Ashley is the opposite! She gathered twice as much loot because she waved and yelled candy to every passerby, and because she has no boundaries! She got the candy no matter where it landed; she ran out in the road, reached under people's chairs (or bodies) and even took candy from the hands of teenagers sitting nearby (who probably felt like they HAD to give it to the cute little girl with her hand held out). She also picked up every flyer and advertisement too, she just wanted it all.   

 At the end of the short parade route there is a carnival with bounce houses and carnival games. It was way, way too hot but, the kids loved it. 

 Most of the carnival games we played had short lines but, Andrew really wanted to play the gun shooting game so we waited 20 hot minutes to play! 

At the same time, Ashley waited to get her face painted with a butterfly and Clifford the big red dog. 

 Cute cousins Callie and Hailey, happy in the shade!

 After the carnival we moved as fast as we could to get to swimming and a lunchtime BBQ with the Warnock cousins at their grandparent's house in Olympus Cove. Andrew and Ashley had a really great time and Hailey...did not, she wasn't feeling right and it was nap time. Being with cousins is wonderful, and swimming with them is even better. 

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Then, we came home and without even going inside, we headed straight to our next-door neighbor's house for another swim date; except for Hailey who went straight to her crib for a much needed, happy nap. Andrew and Ashley swam and swam and always love being in the water. The highlight for Ashley was probably when the neighbor's cute little dog joined us, and played fetch in the pool for a while.

 We had a delicious dinner at Nana and Papa's house, then chased bubbles and played outside.

Hailey was happiest when the flags were used as swords. 

I tried one more time for a family picture. Andrew is creeping up on 6, Ashley just turned 4, Hailey will be 2 in a few months and we have less than 12 weeks until we get to meet our newest baby girl.

That night we met up with Price side cousins to watch the Holladay City fireworks then fell asleep as soon as we saw our beds! All the celebrating was fun, fun, fun. Happy Independence Day! We are blessed and grateful to live in this beautiful country!