The first thing we heard as Lance woke up at 6:30am to go help the Elders cook breakfast was.... RAIN! Surprise, surprise... here in hot, dry old Texas! I don't think I ever remember a rainy 4th in Utah! We did start the day off with the ward pancake breakfast... Beth and I eating with friends and Lance taking rushed bites in the kitchen in between making loads of pancake batter. After breakfast the kids marched around the gym with flags to The National Anthem... Beth was grumpy and mad and insisting we carry her. The whole thing was fun and the only complaint I have is why do things have to start so early on a holiday?
After we went home and crashed for an hour we did the unthinkable. We went swimming in the rain. What else do people do on a holiday in the summer time? After "weathering" the cold rain at a park pool, we jumped in our cars, went back to our apartment complex, and sat in the hot tub for a while and got warm. Who would have thought getting warm would be a problem in July in Texas??...
After coming home and taking warm bathes Lance and I made potato salad for our BBQ with the Burton's, Beth ran around, hyper, like she HADN'T missed out on 2 hours of sleep that morning, we talked to Jen (Lance's sister) on the phone, and we thought of all the things we should be doing that neither of us had the energy to do. Finally at 4:15 we thought to put Beth down for 45 minutes until our BBQ...and she ended up sleeping until 6:30, when I finally went and woke her up...Proof to me that she DOES miss her sleep when I get her up early in the morning! We headed off to the Burton's where we ended up eating at 8pm because the ribs were never quite done....and who wants to take the chance of eating "not quite done" pork ribs?
After eating we all packed into our cars and went to a parking garage that had been recommended to us by some friends to watch the fireworks over the Austin skyline. Let me describe this experience to you in a few words...
CROWDED (And to think this was a remote spot...)
BOOZE (Why bring a beer when you can each bring your own bottle? Who needs cups? )
DOGS (At least Beth enjoyed watching these...the ones on leashes...not the ones running over me)
SMOKE (Why would young adults think to be courteous with their cigarette smoke to the toddler and baby sitting directly to their left?)
TRAFFIC (In the middle of sitting in the parking garage at a dead stop for some minutes I turned to Lance and said, "I can see why at our dad's are both sick and tired of all the crowds on holidays and stay home..." Lance mentioned that he will be ready to stop facing the crowds all too soon...)
It was still nice to see the fireworks but I realized how spoiled I had become by living in Utah. I missed laying on a blanket in Eaglewood Golf Course or Sugarhouse Park and watching the fireworks right about my head. I missed NOT having smoke blown in my direction and I missed the booze being a little more concealed and limited to a six pack!
We finished off the night by going back to the Burton's and eating our home made peach ice cream... which turned out beautifully. I was still stuffed from dinner but somehow managed to squeeze a cup down :)
We watched The Saint until 1 am and drug ourselves back to our apartment and crashed...
Overall we had a nice 4th. We missed family, like every holiday we spend away. We missed the Centerville parade and the Bountiful fireworks. I missed eating watermelon with my mom and sister. And strangely enough I missed the sunshine. Not the heat... just the sun!
It's always nice to have a day set aside to think about and remember what a great country we live in and how blessed we are to live here. I thought about our forefathers who sacrificed so much to establish our country and how thankful I am for them. I thought about the men and women in the military and their commitment to our country. I thought about my many blessings and how grateful I am to be free and to have a loving Heavenly Father who watches over me!
Hope you all had a nice holiday !!
1 comment:
Excellent phrase
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