I love the Fourth of July!!

Independence Day is easily one of my favorite holidays. I have celebrated our great nation at the Stadium of Fire in Provo, at Lagoon on a roller coaster with fireworks going off, on a float as Delta City Miss Liberty, on the banks of the Mississippi River and at a Demolition Derby in Logan, Ohio. I love the red, white and blue, the fireworks and the food. But, my favorite place to be on the Fourth is with my family at the ranch, which has been our little family tradition since Albert was little. This year, the weather was perfect and the company was great. We had the best time.

The day started before the sun came up. My sister-in-law Misty and I took some of our kids and left the ranch at 5:00 a.m. to watch crazy small town people blow up an anvil over and over. Actually, our friend Rachelle, who cuts our hair, has told us about this event in Taylor for years. Her husband's family have been the chief anvil blower uppers (I don't know what else to call them) on the Fourth of July for four generations. We totally surprised her by showing up and it was really fun. Here is Misty, who got a chance to actually light the anvil off the ground. I crack up every time I watch this. That is me laughing in the background when the thing went off. They even have a band playing on a float that follows the anvil all over town. Hog loved it so much that we might be adding this as a tradition every year. So funny!! Thanks for being goofy with me, Mist!!

Our friend, Rachelle. Her husband, the anvil blower upper, is next to her in the flag shirt.

Hog, the boy who loves watching things blow up.

We got back to the ranch before anyone else was up so I took the opportunity to go for a run--6.75 miles of hill after hill. I loved every minute of it!

In the past few years, the crowd at the ranch has been small but this year a good part of Tim's family was there and we had a relaxing day riding the quads and Rangers, eating and sleeping. We were a little lazy and missed the parade in Heber, but that was okay.

We have a favorite spot to watch the fireworks in Heber. The crowds were large this year and even though we got there around 5:30 p.m. we had a little trouble parking. It all worked out though and no one got arrested. (There was a police officer with an orange flag who I think wanted to get his cuffs out really bad, but he didn't do it. ha!!) This is my favorite part of our Fourth of July celebration. While we waited for 9:00 to roll around, we ate hot dogs and cookies, watched the kids hike rocks and then yell down at us so they could wave, played a little catch with the softball (one of my favorite pasttimes) and just hung out. It was pure heaven in my book. I wouldn't change this for anything and luckily, Tim agrees.

Our kids were all decked out for the occasion. We made tie dye shirts for the boys and star applique shirts for the girls. See, I love red, white and blue.

In addition to her star shirt, Cupcake also had the cutest shoes, which I made with a pair of red clearance shoes from Old Navy and homemade bows, which matched the bow in her hair. I so wish they would fit her again next year!!!

Hog gets a little taste of pop rocks from his cousin.

We LOVED having Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Don join us. Especially since Aunt Marilyn remembered to bring all the stuff we forgot.

Glow stick fun.

Twin cousins who love to be together.

Bring on the fireworks!!!

I LOVE the fireworks. My sisters-in-law like to make fun of me because I "woohoo" at everything during the display but I can't help it. I love a good fireworks show. I always have and I always will and I will always show my enthusiasm. WOOHOO for the United States of America!!!!