FREEDOM!!!!!

Freedom!  What does it mean to you?  I fear there will be a time soon where we will once again be forced to fight for our freedom as big government injects itself into our lives more and more.  Sadly, many of those that scream against it do only that.  Complain.  At the very lowest level of involvement, we must all exercise the greatest benefit of that freedom...the right to vote our conscience in an effort to maintain that freedom.  Get involved people! 

 

In the meantime, I recognize I am still so blessed in this great land to have so many amazing families and friends around me that are simply good people.  We are excited every Independence Day to be able to spend the holiday with our family and our neighborhood family.  Here is the photographic evidence!

 

As I look at these pictures, I realize we don't have many pics of Leah now that she is running around with her friends like a pack of wild dogs.  We were happy to get her standing still for this one. 

Our neighborhood goes all out for the holiday with a snow cone booth, nacho booth, cotton candy booth, blow up water bouncies and a dunk tank.  Here is Leah's friend after she got dunked by Leah.

One of the older kids in the neighborhood was painting all the kids' hair.  Leah didn't want to brush or wash her hair ever again for fear it would come out.

Where there was something sweet and delicious, there was Dax.

Some of the boys were making balloon animals for the kids.  Leah was quick to get one for her little brother. 

Even by the end of the night, Dax wasn't sure how he felt about sparklers.

Thanks to a few of the pyromaniacs in the neighborhood, we had a truck load of fireworks which were guarded by one of the pyros, Ted.  That truck load doesn't even include the arials!

Our neighbor, Blacky, photo bombing the Trosper Fourth of July Family Pic.

Sarah always gets a lot of glow in the dark and light up toys for the kids when the sun goes down...it's safer than those things you have to light with a match. 

I was happy to give up a portion of my freedom to be with this sweet girl nearly 13 years ago.

Let the 12th annual Cul-de-Sac of Fire commence!

We had about 150-200 neighbors in the cul-de-sac to watch the fireworks.  Here are a few of them, starting with Scott and Lisa McDougle and Melanie Myler.

Dax and Sadie enjoyed the fireworks together.  At one point, Dax leaned in and gave Sadie a kiss right on the old smacker!  That's my boy!

Sadly, Leah didn't want to sit with us during the show.  I got us seats in the back to protect them from the dangerous fireworks, and Leah wanted to sit right up front with her friend.

The Ashbys, sans Candace.

Sean, Laura and family.

Some of the ladies of the neighborhood, Amy, Mindee, Suzanne and Olivia.

Jerry, Shelda and Jared.

DJ, aka The Deej!

Dana, Jackie and Paul (photobombed by The Deej!).

The ever chillin', Paul.

Dax loved the fireworks, but wouldn't sit for long. 

My good friend, Jared and his girlfriend stopped by. 

We celebrated the holiday with the neighbors on the 3rd.  On the 4th, we celebrated with the Reeds.  Usually on the 4th, we have a flag raising ceremony with a prayer, the pledge of allegiance, breakfast and a brief shared thought.  Last year the turnout was sparse and this year, nobody even asked.  It made me very sad that nobody found value in it, which is reflective of the problem I started the entry off discussing.  Sigh.  I know they love America, but with life too busy to stop to express that gratitude, how long will it be before we take it for granted entirely?  Well, all we can do is to instill it in our children.  That is our responsibility.  To teach Leah and Dax the blessings and responsibilities that come along with living in this great country.

We set up the pool and the sprinkler for the kids to play in.  It was a fun day.

Believe it or not, these two were able to put down their phones and have a fun time too.

Here is Cole using the hammock to sling shot him into the pool.

Uncle Josh came too.  Unfortunately, Uncle Jake and Aunt Erin weren't able to make it. 

A 4th of July selfie!

BOZ Time!

"Whatchu' talkin' 'bout, Willis?!"

This kid loves playing in the water and eating candy...in that order!

Duane was an easy target for the boys...because he is a good sport.

At night we lit off our own fireworks starting with a bunch of my favorites, PARACHUTE MEN!!!

Apparently, this flower caught Dax by surprise and scared this lovely face out of him!

Dax's t-shirt says it all...AMERICA TOTALLY ROCKS!!!

Dax always loves cuddling with his Aunt Molly.

 

Leah has finally come around to the sparklers. 

 



Dax is still unsure.

This is Cole's "this is the last firework?" face.  After we lit ours, we went to our backyard where we could watch the rest of American Fork light theirs.  It was a great show.  We set up the chairs, turned on some Tchaikovsky and Sousa and enjoyed the explosions.  Happy Birthday, America!