Celebrate the 4th!

Rog had Friday the 3rd off, so we spread our 4th of July celebration out over 2 days.

Friday morning we went to the Balloon Festival bright and early.

No better way to start our celebration of the 4th!

On the way home we stopped at Kneaders for their french toast breakfast.

Rog's sister, Marti, came down from BYU-Idaho for the weekend. It was fun having her here since my parents were in Oregon visiting Jared and Cailey. And it was nice having an extra set of hands to help out and hold Logan. She got a ride from a friend down to McKae's house and then McKae drove her down to her in-law's house in Mapleton. Rog took the kids with him to pick her up and Peyton got to hold another one of their puppies. If I didn't dislike dogs so much, this picture might make me want one.

That afternoon we went for a swim at the Spanish Fork Water Park. It was fun to mix it up a little since we always go to Seven Peaks. I jumped off the diving board for the first time in forever and it was so exhilarating! Logan was asleep in the shade 95% of the time we were there, but we woke him up just before we left to try out the baby float. It was a really hot day and the water was warm, so he actually enjoyed it!

That night we watched National Treasure 2 - it seemed like a good movie for the 4th of July being about the history of America and all. I made some food for the next day including Berry Cheesecake Muffins for breakfast.

Saturday morning I went for a long run and then while I was getting ready, Rog and Marti took Corbyn and Peyton to hike the Grotto.

Apparently Peyton was quite the adventurer and wanted to jump right in the water while Corbyn was worried about getting dirty in the mud. 

While scrolling through my Instagram feed that afternoon I came across this picture posted by CheapShots Photography. My favorite part is the hashtags - #cute #blonde #adorable. Of course we think she's the cutest, but it was fun to see that others (who aren't totally biased) agree with us. 

We had a BBQ with Bill and Mariah and their friend Kendra. They brought some chicken to cook on the BBQ, Coconut Rice, corn on the cob, and patriotic sugar cookies.

I made Red, White, and Blue Fruit Salad...

Layered Jell-O (I was so proud of how well it turned out!)...

Strawberry Lemonade...

Rice Krispy Treats (dipped/drizzled with Almond Bark and covered in sprinkles)...

And Cookies and Cream Popcorn (for eating while we waited for the fireworks to start).

Unfortunately only a few minutes after they got to our house, Charlotte threw up. So that put a bit of a damper on the evening... They stayed to eat (since they brought all the real food), but then went home instead of coming to watch the fireworks with us. (I held my breath the whole next week waiting for my kids to get sick, but they didn't!)

We went to BYU to watch the Stadium of Fireworks. While we were waiting for them to start I had to get a picture of Logan in his 4th of July shirt.

We brought a huge pack of glow sticks to entertain the kids.

And sparklers too.

It took forever for the fireworks to start and Peyton was so tired she was begging us to go home. Finally she fell asleep. (So ironic because at home we have such a hard time getting her to go to bed!)

I couldn't be more proud to be an American! I love celebrating the 4th of July and this year was no exception. God bless the USA!