Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Fantastic 4th!

July 4th is one of my favorite holidays, and spending it in Idaho Falls makes it that much better. IF puts on an incredible fireworks show every year and it seems like that spurs the residents to be extra patriotic. Add that to the great weather, fun people and of course, tasty food, and this holiday was one of our best yet!

Chris had to work on Thursday and Friday, so I took the boys to Idaho on Thursday afternoon. That night, I met up with Becky, Elena, and Stephanie for a fun girls dessert night. It's always fun hanging out with just the girls!

Becky, Steph, me... Elena not pictured, but she was there! ;)


On the 4th, we went down to Freeman Park along the Snake River for a picnic and lawn games before the fireworks. I think I can safely say that Bocce ball is the new DeArton fave.

My dad made that yummy cream cheese and onion dip and we blind-taste-tested which chips are actually better: Wavy Lays or Ruffles. Ruffles won by a landslide, which was no surprise to me.

Jake tasting one of the chips...


We've been dressing in patriotic colors for quite a few years now, and this year, several other family members did the same. Ann-Michelle's family definitely won the award for best-dressed-- she and Brynnie even had light-up hair things!

Cute kiddos: Gord, Tom, Brynn & Graham


Ann-Michelle in her awesome dress. Too bad I had to stick with lame maternity wear.


Allison and the sparklers.



One of the most fun things about the 4th in IF is that everyone (and I mean everyone) congregates at the river. We ran into several old friends and neighbors and it was so fun to catch up.

After the insane anticipation of the huge fireworks show, this is what happened to poor Gord just a few minutes before the first firework:

He did end up waking up halfway through, but mostly just whimpered rather than enjoyed the show. Luckily, the next night, my dad did a small scale fireworks show in my parents' backyard, so Gordon's firework dreams were realized.

On Saturday, my mom and I woke up early to drive to Provo to pick Caitlan up from EFY, then through Logan to pick up Chris. It was a long trip, but we had a fun time just talking and spending time together. We had the family over again on Saturday, but I managed to not take any pictures. I did, however, get this shot of an unplanned BYU/Utah-clad Caitlan and Gordon, looking oh so sporty in their team gear. See kids, Utes and Cougars can get along!

8 comments:

Amanda and Andy Hansen said...

Sounds like a fun holiday. The boys look cute in their festive striped shirts.

The Hammers said...

Sounds like a busy and fun weekend. Next time your home, make some time for an old friend, would ya?

Ashley said...

SOOOO not fair that you don't have any semblance of "pregnancy face" (ie no puffy-chub, no dark spots) That's my way of saying, YOU LOOK FANTASTIC!!!

becky ward said...

yes, the three of you are very festive and cute. i really wish we could have met up on the 4th...but, at least we were able to get some dessert. sounds like you and your fam had some fun.

Emily said...

Looks like you guys had a great time, I love the first pic!

shannon said...

how fun!!!! totally jealous. this was the first year in a long time that we were not in IF and at Freeman Park for the 4th. Wish we could have been there and visited!

Marilyn said...

Sounds like so much fun! We missed you, though! I need a Tom/Gord fix!!

Elena said...

Yes, they can get along as long as there isn't a game on the t.v. :) Looks like you had a great 4th and you got your favorite dip to boot. Thanks for letting me hang out with all you ladies for dessert.