Celebrating the 4th

There are so many traditions that my family does for the 4th and it is so nice being able to join them again. Growing up the 4th was always a huge holiday. Not only is it Independence Day but lucky for me it is my birthday as well--it's great to always have a big party on your birthday! So every year since I can remember we have always gone to the parade in Provo. Many nights were spent on the streets of Provo just to make sure that we had a good spot for the parade. That tradition has continued--now my parents are the ones that end up spending the night on the streets. The kids absolutely loved the parade---fire trucks, horses, balloons, motorcycle cops...what's not to love. After the parade we went to my parents for a nice, low key BBQ.
Jack, Macie and Cate, one of my cute little nieces enjoying the parade.
Check out the umbrella. In all the years that I have been to the parade I never remember it raining. Here we are trying to stay dry while watching the parade. Luckily the rain didn't last long.

Here is the group at the parade. My parents, my brother and his family and us. My brother Mike and his son Hans ran the 5K this year. Maybe I will give it a try next year, we'll see.

I love the flag cake that my mom makes for me every year. Check out all the candles--I am getting so old.

My sister had a few extra tickets to the Stadium of Fire and invited us to tag along. This is Jack walking to the stadium with his cousins Luke and Jocelyn.

I love the expression on Jack's face. He absolutely loved the fireworks!

Macie was so exhausted. Look at those tired eyes. We didn't think that we would be able to find a babysitter with such short notice so we decided to take her with us to the stadium. She would not sit still. She just wanted to lay on the floor which was disgusting. Finally Ryan took her down to a quiet place and she finally fell asleep until a group of screaming girls came in talking about how much they loved the Jonas Brothers. Next time I think we will try a little harder to find a babysitter---if there is a next time.

Even though Macie made it a little difficult to enjoy the show, all in all we had a ton of fun. Thank you Cristen for inviting us to come with you and your boys.

With my birthday being on the 4th of July, Ryan feels like he doesn't really get to do much for me for my birthday. This year he decided that he wanted to have our own little family birthday celebration. He did dinner and with a little help from Jack made a cake for me. As you can see from Jack and Macie's faces they were very excited for some cake. Thanks Ry, it was a great birthday!