4th of July

Well since we aren't close to any family (location wise) I always get a little sad on holidays like the 4th of July. I wish I was with everyone in my family having a BBQ, or something fun like that. But this year we were invited to spend part of the day with our friends the Haltermans and their whole family (most of their family lives in the area). We started out the day riding in the parade. The Halterman family own the Polaris dealership in town and so we all rode our rangers in the parade. Then we came home in the afternoon, relaxed, had our favorite bacon cheeseburgers (courtesy of our favorite hamburger joint Brad's Food Hut - YUMMO!) It might have seemed a little weird to BUY our lunch, not BBQ it ourselves, but we enjoyed it. I even took a nap - which happens like maybe 2 times a year.

Then in the evening we went to back to spend time with the Halterman family. They live clear out in the country - it's really quiet and nice out there. In some ways it reminds me of Mama and Papa's area - but more secluded. In their family there are 3 siblings, their spouses, lots of kids, a few cousins, and then Vicky and Randy - the parents (at least that live here, there are a few others out of state). So it was a crowd, but lots of fun. We had a tasty BBQ with kabobs, salads, corn on the cob, desserts etc. Afterwards we did some fireworks, the kids broke a pinata, and we came home. On the way home we got to see the city's fireworks start and drove over to where they were doing them. We were RIGHT there, and enjoyed the show. Hunter slept through the whole thing - we were amazed - it was LOUD and a few of them gave us goosebumps from being so loud!

Gabe spent the 4th of July in Logan with his Grandma Tammy and cousins. It was sad to not have a part of our family with us - we missed him, but know he's having fun with everyone else. I want him to have a great time, but in a selfish way I wanted him here with us. I know he would have loved being in the parade, waving at people and riding the ranger. He would have also loved playing with all the kids at the Halterman's. I guess it's good for me to have moments like this where I miss him - it helps remind me how important family is, and that I want our family to be together for important events. I also want him to have experiences with his cousins and grandparents too...so it was a toss up.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the day. They aren't the best pictures...in fact they ended up pretty lousy. (anyone suggest a fantastic point-and-shoot camera?) Oh well, we'll still remember what fun we had - right?