bring 4th the fun...

We had a fun fourth and I hope everyone else did too! It was so blasted hot that day thought, that we didn't go out until about 7, just to avoid the sun! We went out to Happy Valley, which had a big celebration all day, we missed most of the planned activities but there was still plenty to do when we got there. Ryeleigh went into this giant water fountain thing and got soaked within minutes of getting there, but it was hot enough she was dry before too long. Zach played a game of baseball with a bunch of kids there for about 3 hours while the rest of us walked around and actually ran into some of our friends the Palmers, while we were there. They are opening a new skate shop in Happy Valley town center called Novakane, and were there promoting it. It was a lot of fun and the store looks like it will be really cool. Their daughter Hayden is one of Bekah's best little buddies, so they had a lot of fun running around and riding this rocking horse for a bit. Christopher fell asleep and stayed asleep until the fireworks started. It was a fun day, and a beautiful night-how awesome it is to live in this beautiful country with all the freedoms we enjoy. I know I take it for granted, but I am so grateful for all those who made and still make it possible to take it for granted! I mean we can work, play, worship, do basically whatever we want without feeling threatened-because of everything they have done and continue to do for us, we don't have to think about our freedom and security every second of every day like people do in other countries. It's really great to have a day to focus on our freedoms that we enjoy, and to feel grateful for living in this beautiful country.