Our 4th of July, 2011

We started out our 4th of July celebrations with some swimming. We went with the Smith's and McKee's to a family members pool to cool off and it was so fun. The skies were a little overcast and we got sprinkled on a little bit, but we still got some sun and enjoyed ourselves.

This pool was so fun for the kids. It had a board up so you could watch movies while you swim (I want a pool like this one), the boys thought it was the coolest thing! (My camera battery was dead when I went to take pictures, thank goodness for Josh's phone...he got some good ones for me).


My kids are like little fish in the pool, they just can't get enough of swimming...


I'm not sure what Jantzen was doing to Jaedyn in this picture, but I loved her facial expression...so priceless!


Jaedyn loved this floaty, but it was way too big for her. I had to hold on to it while she was in it because she thought she could go in the deep end with her brothers (she refused to sit in her baby float).


Mary got some awesome pictures of the boys under water, they were all having so much fun. Jantzen's arm floaties kept pulling him up, it was funny watching him try to stay under the water..

(from left...Chandler, Jantzen, Jaron, and Kaiden)


(Keagan and Jaron...with Jantzen, Josh, and Jaedyn in the far distance)



Here's me (squatting down so I don't look like a giant next to these cute little ladies), Rikki, and Mary looking hot in our swim attire...really, it was kind of hot that morning even though it was overcast.


Later on we went over to the Smith's house for dinner and fireworks. We had a yummy dinner that consisted of terriyaki chicken, rice, salads, and fruit. Surprisingly, my kids ate it and liked it!

Here's the kids enjoying their 4th of July dinner (I couldn't get them all to look at the same time)...

(The little kid table from left...Brody, Jaedyn, Camden, Emma, and Stella)


(The big kid table from left...Chandler, Jantzen, Keagan, Casen, Jaron, and Ashley)


After we ate dinner, the kids ran around the backyard. Jaedyn and some of the other kids were picking flowers from the yard (sorry Rikki) and Jaedyn stuck one of them in her hair. I wanted to get a picture of it because I thought it was cute and Jaedyn really made me work for it. I had to literally chase her around the yard until I finally got one, but she moved her head, so I only got a side shot of it.


Before fireworks, we took the kids over to play at the park for a little bit, they loved that. Jaedyn was in heaven because her daddy was there and he was nice enough to push her on the swing (I'm not always that nice). Jantzen enjoyed the swing too, but I didn't see much of Jaron while we were there. He was too busy running around with the "older" boys.


Josh thought he was being funny and he took this picture of me with his phone when I wasn't paying attention. He obviously forgot about the rules for taking my picture! I guess at least you can see that I was dressed all festive for the 4th of July...


Back at Rikki's the kids got ready to do fireworks. Before we started them, all the kids got a glow bracelet and a 4th of July treat from Mary. She made Kit Kat's into little fireworks, they were really cute. I don't think the kids appreciated how cute they were, they just wanted the chocolate!



We also got to enjoy some yummy homemade brownies and ice cream (courtesy of the Burnham's)...my boys were in heaven!


Jaedyn tried to be sneaky and grab herself some more Kit Kat's...


Stella and Jaedyn playing around, waiting to start the fireworks...


We finally went out front to start the firework fun. Jaedyn and Jantzen had a blast with their glow bracelets. Jaedyn was trying to put hers over her head to wear as a necklace, but it wasn't quite big enough...


Jantzen made me laugh with his glow bracelets. He put two of them together and made them into a "disk". That's right, he was pretending he was "Tron"...my boys LOVE that movie!


The kids all started off with sparklers, but Jaedyn wanted nothing to do with it. She just wanted to sit in her princess chair with her glow bracelet and watch everyone else.


Jaron and Jantzen had a blast with the sparklers...



Josh finally got Jaedyn to play with some sparklers and then she thought it was pretty cool...



After a few minutes playing with the sparklers, Jaedyn had enough and she just wanted to watch the bigger fireworks. She really likes fireworks this year, it's so fun to watch her watching them.


I made her special 4th of July hair bows, so I had to get a picture of them...she loved them!


My poor little Jaron was the only one who got hurt. He tried to put out a sparkler by stepping on it and somehow it burned his pinky toe and gave him a blister. I wrapped it up in a cold, wet paper towel and that seemed to relieve some of the pain for him, but that didn't stop him from being all dramatic about it. He went inside and laid down on the couch. Jantzen was a nice little brother and he went inside with him so he wouldn't have to be alone. Jaron didn't want me to take his picture, but I did it any way...



I think Jaedyn was trying to imitate her big brother here, but she's not quite tall enough yet...she's so funny!


We had a busy, but fun 4th of July with good friends. I'm so happy that we are able to have family and good friends to spend the holidays with. I'm also so grateful for the men and women who have sacrificed their lives so that we can enjoy all of the freedoms we have...HAPPY 4TH OF JULY and GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!