Our 4th of July

So the Fourth of July was a very relaxing, no worries kind of day for us, which was really nice. We woke up and went to a breakfast and Patriotic Program at our stake center. From there we headed into Pocatello for their parade. We were lucky to not only get a good parking spot, but some seats with shade. The boys really enjoyed the parade--Drake especially.


Here they are excitedly waiting for it to start (Avery is sleeping in her car seat behind them).

Close-up of Graham.



Close-up of Drake.



Close-up of Avery, who slept through it all.



Intrigued by something in the parade, no doubt.



Sweet Drake was so excited that people were throwing candy onto the street, but we were sitting next to some older kids, and Drake was never fast enough. So usually he'd run out there so excited, only to run back and say, "I didn't get any candy." We had to assure him that more candy would come, and encouraged him to stand next to the other kids instead of behind them. By the end of the parade, he had plenty of candy to satisfy his little 4-year old desires.

Here's a shot of Drake walking back after a failed attempt to retrieve candy. Life can be so hard sometimes...



After the parade we all went home, ate lunch, and took naps--amazing, huh? Our entire family, asleep at the same time in the middle of the day--of course, I only slept a short while before little Avery rang out, but I did still get to sleep some. That evening, we went over to Heath's and Stacy's house (friends in our ward). Drake is good friends with their son Parker. We enjoyed a delicious barbeque with them and some of their family, then hung out and visited.

Once it was dark enough, we lit off all of our fireworks until they were gone. I didn't get many good pictures of that. Afterwards, we sat out behind our friends' house, and watched the big show they do from the fairgrounds. Our kids sure got to bed late, but I think they had fun. It was a nice way to celebrate our independence!