Images of our 4th of July

Here are a few photos of our 4th of July:

Since I am in YW now, I inherited the job of making sure the flags go up on our street for holidays. That means Niles gets to be involved, too, since he gets to pound the pieces of ribar into the ground with a sledge hammer. So here is our flag early on the morning of the 4th:

Here's some of the flags down our street as it gets lighter:

I was snapping these flag photos while waiting for Jumble to finish getting ready so I could drop her off at the school to go march in the Provo parade. I was going to go see her in the parade, but not being able to get to sleep until 2:00 a.m. the night before changed my plans. I was bummed about that.

Atom was hanging out in the car, watching Niles make homemade ice cream in the garage. Atom always seems to have a bruise on his forehead lately!

And here is Niles getting the ice cream going.

Here's more of our yummy bar-b-q.

My mom and dad came and joined us for the bar-b-q--that was a fun last-minute development!

Jet with the American flag. My boys seemed to think that the national color was orange this year! I usually make sure they wear red, white, or blue on the 4th--but this year they managed to get dressed before I took care of that.

Jumble's band uniform bag--after the parade and before the Stadium of Fire performance. I wanted a photo of her in her uniform but didn't manage to get one of those.

Me finding the bar-b-q tools. Ugh! I really dislike photos of myself.

Niles wearing his shirt from the 5K he ran in that morning. It was a very early morning for some of us.

Jet with a sparkler. Niles stayed with the boys while Minnie and I went to see Jumble and her band perform at Stadium of Fire.

I decorate my white-board calendar every month--so this month I did a bunch of marching band musicians across the top. The first one after the firework in this photo is Jumble--playing the bass clarinet--followed by a tuba, snare drum, bass drum, and color guard flag girl. (The other half of the band is on the other half of the calendar.)

I am grateful for the freedoms I enjoy in this wonderful country.