Happy Belated Fourth!

We had a fun Fourth of July.

The night before we Randy and the five oldest slept outside- some on the tramp, some on the grass with the puppy. Emma and I were going to sleep out..until Emma started screaming. I think she was too hot. Because when we got inside, she fell right to sleep...in my bed. :)

Friday, Randy had to man a booth for his construction project at the city celebration. The kids and I stayed home and played with "Molly Brown". Yes, the puppy now has a name....I always did like that musical....I was just throwing names out there and Molly was the one that stuck. Randy added the Brown, I guess because she's a chocolate lab. My parents thought she should be "Cocoa' because, what if somebody names their baby "Molly"...just for the record- if anyone wants to name their baby Molly, that would be just fine with us!

...anyway, back to the Fourth.....

When Randy got home we watched Spiderwick. Nathan fell asleep (thank goodness) and when he woke up, we went to our friends' house for swimming and a BBQ. Good times! The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast. Hannah can officially swim without a floaty, and Nathan loves the water. The other kids are all fish and spent most of the day in the water. Once dark, we lit some fireworks in the road. Why is it that all fireworks look EXACTLY the same?! I mean, it doesn't matter what the packaging looks like, or what they call it...it's the same thing inside.

On Saturday, we spent the day doing yard work....Yes, we planted a Nathan. We like him so much, we were hoping to get more just like him!

We cleaned the garage (for the 576,295th time!) and dog run (which we think we'll get rid of to put a shed there, instead.) We went swimming at another friend's pool that afternoon. Casey and Hailey have been tending their dogs and cats and taking care of things while they are gone, and they offered to let us use it anytime. Emma learned how to kick her legs to keep herself upright in her life jacket. It took everything she's got, but she loved it! She was so cute!

Randy and I went out to dinner and ran some errands for our date. I know, it's so creative. But it's nice to just be together.

Sunday before church, I decided to make rolls. My parents and sister were coming over for dinner; and with my new Kitchen Aid, I just do things like that. The power went out as the oven was preheating to bake them. Minutes later, Randy left to help Casey do Fast Packs. The rest of us were still in our jammies with bed head....and no curling irons. It was 12:00. Church starts at 1:00, and I was conducting Primary. I certainly couldn't go to church looking like I was, and I wasn't about to let the rolls go to waste. I called my parents and asked them if I could borrow some electricity and to preheat the oven. Nathan threw one of his classic tantrums because he couldn't find the right pants Nonetheless, I managed to get him dressed, pack our church bags, gather our beautifying products, and arrive at my parent's by 12:20 or so. Not too bad, I thought.....but it still didn't leave me much time. Needless to say, I walked into church at 2:05. Thanks, Julie, for pinch-hitting for me!

Dinner was great. I really enjoy our Sunday grilling tradition...and it's always nice to have family there.