Independence Day 2011

We spent the fourth of July with Joseph's family at his mom's house. The kids young and old had a great time on the giant slip-n-slide. We had a yummy dinner and then did a few fireworks on the basketball court and then when it got dark we headed for Adam's culdesac to see some of the big fireworks. It was great and low key to not have to deal with large crowds. That morning I had a breakdown of sorts, wondering what we were doing in Utah. I felt so lost, but after I got going and visiting with family, things got better.

Cul-de-sac of Fire

On the evening of July 4th, we went to the 4th of July Party hosted by the Paschoal's cul-de-sac. I love their cul-de-sac. If I knew we were going to stay in Woodland for many years, I might consider offering to buy someone out of their spot on this street. :) I really like the location and they seem to be great neighbors to each other. The Pachoal's backyard connects with their neighbors and they both have pools. Most of the older kids swam in the other pool and we hung out in the Paschoal's pool. We had a potluck BBQ, swimming, decorated bikes, had bike parade for the kids, enjoyed root beer floats and then we all did fireworks in the cul-de-sac. All of the dad's did them at the same time so it was a great ring of fire. It was lots of fun. We met the Paschoal's through school because Macy and Brynn were in the same class this year. I am really glad because it allowed us to get to know them better. They are a great family and Tera (Macy's mom) is the party planner extraordanaire! we've been to a few of their parties lately and she does such a great job. They have the perfect house for hosting, it's really fun.

After eating and swimming we moved into the front yard to decorate bikes for the kiddie parade.

The bike parade was so cute. Rob Paschoal rode his bike with a giant American Flag to lead the kids while patriotic music played in the background. The kids were in heaven.

Stephen, Joseph and Aaron played catch with a football with some of the dad's while we waited for it to get dark enough for fireworks. I was a little worried about the other dad's getting beaned by Stephen, little did they know they were playing catch with a Mountain West Conference quarterback....Go Stephen...Go BYU! Emily and I laughed each time he threw it because we weren't really sure how much power was behind each throw.

We loved haivng Emily and Stephen come visit. It was relaxing and fun. On Sunday at church, after Stephen introduced he and Emily, someone asked about his Grandpa, "Are you related to THE Stephen Covey?" I loved Stephen's reply, very dryly, "I am him, I just grew hair." We love you Stephen and Emily. Come back soon!

The Covey's Come to Town

My sister Emily and her husband Stephen came to visit for the 4th of July. We packed some fun things into our weekend, which even included Emily getting sick! Stephen created a video full of highlights from our beach adventure, playing at home and our 4th of July party with friends we've met from school. We have watched it about a million times and have had so much fun re-living those moments he captured. Thanks Uncle Stephen!

Here's the link to the movie he made or you can go to YouTube and type in July 4th Celebration (Viva la Vida)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiOh7dcS0zg