Happy Fourth of July!

We got back from our wonderful trip to Utah late Wed. night, and I have not yet had a chance to blog about it. We were there for almost two weeks! Anyway, I decided to go ahead and blog about the 4Th of July, so that it would actually get done!
Our Ward had a pancake breakfast, which Matt andI slept through, because we are still trying to get back on our Eastern time! I was kind of sad that we missed it, especially when my friend called me up and said everyone was wondering where Mattie was, and what she was going to have on! She said they were expecting flags in her hair or something! I didn't know that I had such a reputation of getting Mattie so dressed up!

My mother decided to take Mattie to the movies in the morning to see WALL•E. Mattie knew that Grandma would be taking her to see it, and even talked about it on our trip in Utah. It has kind of become their thing; going to the movies together. I love that my mom is continueing this tradition. We didn't have much when I was growing up, but my mother always managed to take us to the movies to see the new cartoons that had come out! Mattie really enjoys her time with Grandma at the movies, and yesterday was no exception. She got her little change purse and put her ticket in it, and even bought herself a Children's Popcorn meal thing. It comes with popcorn, candy and an Icee. Mattie made it through about 20 minutes of the movie and then fell asleep. I told you we are still trying to get back on our own Time Zone! But, she enjoyed the part that she saw very much!

In the afternoon we went over to the Berger's home to celebrate the Fourth. That is also a tradition for us. We had BBQ pork, hot dogs and hamburgers, plus all of the other regular things you eat at a BBQ. After eating, Matt got in the pool with Mattie. I was going to get in, but was just soooo tired. (I feel like pregnancy is kicking my butt this time!) I just sat out and watched. After swimming for a while, we took the children to the backyard to do fireworks. We always do them when its still light out, but the kids don't seem to mind. The Dads took turns lighting the fireworks, and I think that they were having a better time than the kids! Why is it that grown men think it is so much fun to play with fire and blow things up!?! After setting off all of the fireworks, we let the children do sparklers. I was a little worried about the sparklers and how young some of the kids were, but we kept a close watch on them. Mattie and her little friend Eden had a blast playing together and watching the fireworks.
We headed home after finishing the fireworks. I was super tired, so we just watched a movie when we got home. We did turn on the TV at about 10pm and watched part of the Boston Pops. It brought back fond memories of our last Fourth of July. We visited Matt's older brother Wayne and his family in Boston last year. It was the best fireworks show that we have ever seen, even with it raining on us the entire time! We'll have to go back another year and experience it without the cold rain.

We hope that everyone had a magnificent Independence Day! We are very grateful that we live in such a wonderful country, and that we have our freedom. Thank you to all who have made this possible, and to those that continue to fight for our great country!