Fun on the Fourth

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays - I think partly because its in the summer and there's almost no preparation needed to enjoy the holiday :)

One of our big traditions is going to the parade up at the Brighton Loop.  We decided kind of at the last minute to run up for the parade and join my aunt and her family up there.  The parade is VERY small-town but that is what makes it great.  We all had fun hanging out together and the kids loved collecting candy during the parade.

After the parade we went back to the cabin and had fun with the Morgans for a couple of hours.  And thankfully they shared their lunch makings with us.

my cute kids waiting for the parade to start

so glad Paul came with us
(he tried to sneak in a little work before the parade)

Kamryn and Jared benefited from some eager parade participants
who threw out half their candy before the parade even started

cute cousins

Jadon, Katie and Steve hanging out in our van

Kamryn is so patriotic
she even has blue teeth

there were some pretty cool parade participants

Dale, Susan, Paul and Sandy

check out these super cute cousins
Lily and Hannah

I got Susan to take this picture
to show that i really was there

Katie was in heaven hanging out in the van
with the babies and their cute moms

waiting for more candy

Byers Family

our family on the 4th

 In the early evening (after the rec center closed early for the holiday) we set up the giant slip and slide.  We invited family and friends to join us for the fun.  This is one of the greatest summer things we've done before and this year was no different.

Paul and Dale getting it all set up
while eager sliders waited at the top

Kamryn

Kyson

Jared

enjoying the evening

Katie

girl train

boy train

we tried out going down on a tube
good idea :)

My brother Paul

Brooke

Taylor

happy boys

making a BIG train

they DID IT!

enjoying visiting with good friends

Paul

Preston
friend of our friends
going down surfer style
he made it farther than anyone ever has but then had a major wipe out in the mud

Paul trying out the tube

almost made it to the fence