4th of July | Island Park 2012

I will eventually force myself to catch up on my blog. Here is part 2 of our visit to Island Park. We stayed through the 4th of July holiday and enjoyed ourselves by watching the Island Park Boat Parade (which next time we're there on the 4th we will definately take part in!).

Then we headed down to the Hungry Bear Market to pay cousin Dallin a visit while he was working controlling the mechanical bull. Of course everyone wanted to have a go! And our hickville holiday was not complete until we then rode the largest monster truck in America (or so they say), and we ended with a seriously amazing firework show in the parking lot of the Hungry Bear Market. Who knew that the Hungry Bear would be such a hot spot!

Of course there was a lot of tubing, jet skiing, dirt bike riding, and overeating as well!

4th of July

We celebrated the Fourth of July this year again by going to our annual Flag Ceremony and Bike Rodeo at the church on Saturday. Then on Sunday, we had our annual street bike Parade and the little ones were so excited to ride around on their decorated bikes. In the evening we enjoyed our neighborhood firework show, which is always loud, chaotic, crazy, and fun! We love the traditions we enjoy living in this awesome neighborhood.

Fourth of July Celebration

"America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good,
America will cease to be great.” ~Jerreld L. Newquist

This year we had our annual neighborhood Fourth of July Celebration complete with a bike parade, children games, face painting, BBQ, and our spectacular fireworks show. We love our neighbors and we love our neighborhood. It is such a wonderful feeling to walk out of your door and be greeted by friends and to know that your kids are developing friendships that will last forever. It is something that I often take for granted and forget that not everyone is blessed with such a wonderful home.

It is the same with America. It is easy to get caught up in the day to day of your own life and forget what a true blessing it is to live in a country with so many freedoms, comforts, and wonderful opportunities. I am happy that we have this great holiday to remind ourselves of this gift and to thank those who fought to give it to us.

The boys getting an early start to the festivities with some stink bombs!

★ Our second annual Bike Parade! ★

The bike in the top middle belongs to Miss Audrey. She was feeling a little sad about the quality of her bike decorations (I had forgotten to get some at the store and so we had to make due with what was around the house). She perked up later though and had fun playing all the games and watching the fireworks.



"We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls." ~Robert J. McCracken

Celebrating the Fourth!

Bike Rodeo!

We started the morning out by waking up early and heading to the church for some yummy pancakes & eggs and our annual 4th of July Bike Rodeo! The kids had so much fun. They even had a mini carnival this year complete with snowcones! Since we bought David a bike last week he has been a riding machine. I think he rode his bike more than any other kid there this year... It wasn't until the very end when we finally convinced him to get off his bike and enjoy a nice cold snowcone.

BBQ at the Munks

In the afternoon we went over for a BBQ at Stan & Julies with the Dillon family, the Thorpe family, and Grandma & Grandpa Kidd! We had SO much good food. We ate and ate and ate until we just couldn't eat no more... and then we ate some more! It was so delicious. The kids had fun playing on the trampoline, the Munks new slip'n'slide, and just hanging out! It was a fun evening!

Aubrey, Meagan, Lauren, Audrey, and Kate


The boys had fun trying to master the boogie board on the slip'n'slide. It's much harder than it looks!

A few more of my favorite pics...

Fireworks!

When it started to get dark we all headed back to our place for the annual firework show that our street puts on. I think we top ourselves every year! It was a BLAST (literally!). David was so wiped out I went and put him down before we started so he missed the show, but saw plenty of loud firecrackers during the day. He didn't seem to mind them and would just yell "kaboom" or "pop, pop, pop"! The older kids had fun lighting off some of the smaller fireworks and were entertained all night!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
We are so blessed to be able to spend the day with our family and friends in such a wonderful community and such a wonderful country!