Proud To Be An American!

Hiking to a waterfall in the canyon-my wonderful sisters and Katie and I...Katie not happy to be close to the waterfall!

Katie opted to stay in the house once the fireworks started-she still isn't a fan of all the noise. But for this picture she was sitting so pretty with Aunt Kimberly.

Check out where Tavin's sparkler is in the picture above:)

We spent fourth of July Weekend in UT with my family. Our trip consisted of hiking, eating yummy hot dogs and marshmallows-Kimberly is the best at roasting them! Katie did not like the waterfall that we hiked too-the noise scared her( thus the unhappy girls' picture at the top) but she LOVED the marshmallows and got it all over her hands and face. Right after, she wanted to be like the boy cousins and play in the woods-picking leaves and rocks up with her marshmallow hands....hmmm that didn't work so well-when she wanted to let go of those rocks and leaves, they stuck! It was really funny watching her try to shake them off!

I was so happy when Tavin actually enjoyed the fireworks this year. In the past he was less than enthusiastic about the loud popping noises, whistling sounds, and colors that shot in the air. This year he was all for it! Once one finished-he was up clapping his hands and asking for the next one! He was so excited for the explosions that he could hardly contain himself and sit in his little chair.....such a boy:)

Dan almost gave my mom a heart attack with bottle rockets-but miraculously no one got hurt! And uncle Kenny splurged a little to get the big guns-the aerials-for us! My favorite was the one that went off high in the sky and dropped a parachute man! How cool is that! Well I thought it was pretty cool. And of course we had to do sparklers and dance around!

The highlight of the weekend was baby Eli's blessing-he is such a sweet little guy and I know he has a giant spirit in that tiny little body of his. It was a fight to get him here but he is such a blessing to our family. I know he will do amazing things in this life-and Seth gave a beautiful blessing stating just that.

And last of all, I am proud to be an American! When Dan and I got married-the sealer wanted us to recognize how lucky we were to both be born in this choice land-not everyone has the opportunity to be in a place of freedom-some die trying to gain that freedom that I was handed when I was born. I am grateful for those who fought and are still fighting for me to have that freedom-especially the freedom of Religion.

"We claim the privilege of worshipping the All Mighty God and allow all men the same privilege-let them worship how, where, and what they may."