4th of July

This year I made Justin proud and did not buy new shirts for the kids.  Actually this is the second year in a row I haven't....you know what that means right?  Next year I am totally getting the kids 4th of July clothes!!!

What a great looking group of kids!

Best Dad Ever!

I love my kiddos!  SO glad I get to be their mom!

My High School Sweetheart....

This was our family pictures before we headed off for our evening of fun.....

BUT let's start with the beginning of our 4th of July!

This is Rhett Hughes.....he and his wonderful family moved into our friends, The Moore's old house, down by the pond.  We became instant friends!!!

We have really enjoyed doing fun things with them over the summer.  Tamra and I took our kids up to Twilight Canyon for a picnic on the 4th of July.

This is Mr. Grant and Lincoln.  Bound to be buddies!

Mr. Grant loved the mountains and all the dirt!

Of course the kids built a fort.  It seems like a must when in the mountains right?

The kids played so good together and we actually stayed there all day.  I really enjoyed visiting with Tamra.  I love her company and we have a lot of fun together!

So glad they moved here from Flagstaff.  Both Tamra and Jed are originally from the Gila Valley, but we are thankful they became our neighbors and FRIENDS!

Love this picture!

Okay if you know Justin and myself we are always up for trying new things......Me more so then him I guess, but he is always so sweet and goes along with my crazy ideas.

So I had seen in the paper that Bylas was having a bull riding/fireworks show on the 4th of July.  In case you don't know Bylas is a Navajo Indian Reservation about 25 minutes from Pima.  Let me correct myself so Justin doesn't scold me....it is a Navajo Nation, not Reservation! 

Any way, I thought why not do something different....Justin thought it sounded fun too.  Plus it would give him an excuse to talk in his Indian accent.  Seriously he is hilarious....he sounds just like the Navajo people.

So as soon as we got down from the mountain I had the kids change clothes....no time to shower plus we were going to a rodeo arena...who showers before that right?

Justin grabbed pizza on his way home from work, we ate, took pictures (a tradition I love), and then we piled in the car and headed for Bylas.  Our friends, The Hughes, were suppose to join us but little Lincoln was so tired, Tamra decided to stay home. Maybe she was a little nervous about Bylas on the 4th, I don't know.

I will say I was a little scared when we pulled up.....we were the only white people there.  Finally another white family came that we knew but besides our two families there were no other white people.  Funny thing is on our drive home Justin and I were talking about it, Hunter spoke up and said, "What are you talking about?"

I explained that us and the other family sitting behind us were the only white people.

He could not believe it.....he didn't think that was right.  He said, he "never really noticed what color the people were.  And he still wasn't convinced it was only our two families that were white."

What a good example.....kids see past "race" every time.

I will say the Indian people were super nice to us....actually I have to speak highly of them.  

I took Hunter and Kiersten to the Yukon to grab a blanket.  I let them get it and then we walked back to our lawn chairs by the arena.  The bull riding ended and we waited for the fireworks.  After the fireworks, about an hour after leaving the car, we pack our stuff up and head for the car.  As we get closer I notice the back hatch of the Yukon is totally open.  Yep the kids forgot to close it OVER AN HOUR AGO!

I just knew my purse would be gone, for once I had quite a bit of cash in my wallet, along with the electronically decided the kids had in the seats.  I was scared to even look!

We got to looking ......not one thing was missing.  What a miracle I thought.  I am pretty sure if I'd left my back hatch open, for an hour, at the 4th of July in Safford there would be a good chance stuff would get stolen. 

So we were treated great by the Navajo people and I greatly appreciated it!

Justin of course explained in his Indian voice, "that we, since he is part Indian :), do not steel from our own people!"

The kids were so excited about this "Food Scramble"

Mr. Grant was very bummed I wouldn't let him out there to get trampled!

One thing the kids really enjoyed was the "Food Scramble."

They laid our tons and tons of sodas, juices, some wrapped fruit snacks, Gatorade's, etc. They then let kids 10 and under run and grab as much stuff as they could.....our kids thought it was amazing!!

And away they go....

It was a hoot to watch!

Once things calmed down I let Mr. Grant have a turn!

"Yippee" he said!

He was more then thrilled with his treasures!

The kids really did get a ton of sodas, Gatorade's, and fruit snacks.

It was a fun thing all our kids enjoyed!

They already said they wanted to come back next year...ha, ha.  We will see...I am hoping to be someplace cool next 4th of July!

All the bull riding was fun to watch!

The kids loved playing with the other kids....Indian or not it doesn't matter to a kid.

The firework show was good!  
I just love fireworks!  I love hearing which ones my kids like the most.....

so all in all it was a fantastic 4th of July.

We are all so grateful for the freedoms we enjoy.  And we pray for the men and women fighting for those freedoms.  As Quincy trains in Texas to get ready to leave for Afghanistan, I can't help but think of him this day.  We love you so much!  Can't wait for you to return safely home!