Proud to be an American!!!

I love the United States...I love the 4th of July...I love patriotic songs...I love parades...I love fireworks....I love BBQ's...I love it all!!!

This year we continued our 4th of July family traditions:

First up:

Going to the Hot Air Balloon Launch EARLY in the morning on the 3rd of July. Our girls don't really mind the early hour as long as they get to see their favorite pig balloon & the strawberry balloon. It is a lot of fun...

(side note: Taylor took the picture of Justin & I--pretty good for a 4 year old!)

Second, we continue our tradition of running the 10K at the Freedom Festival in Provo before the parade. Taylor waits for this race all year long...because it is the one race that she gets to do with us! She has asked me for months when SHE gets to get in her striped dress (new 4th of July outfit) and "run the race". Her definition of running this race is sitting with Brooklyn in the jogging stroller and Justin & I take turns pushing it. But it is a fun family event that we all get to enjoy together. Plus, they are always so great to give our girls finishing metals also! Love that! This year uncle Matt ran it also, so that was fun to have him along even though he ran faster than us! It was his first road race ever and he did great! Good Job!

Next, we all get to go the parade. This year was actually really enjoyable as for the first time in about 4 years, because both of my girls stayed relatively put on the blankets and chairs without trying to run onto the parade route! A huge success in my book! Taylor's favorite part--all the "princess in their beautiful dresses" a.k.a the royalty from each of the different cities. Brooklyn's favorite part--the freedom to eat all the candy and treats she wanted without much restraint from Mommy & Daddy (hey it kept her happy & it's the 4th of July...we let her live a little!) Justin's favorite part-the little nap he got in his camping chair. Kim's favorite part--the fighter planes "fly over" and all the servicemen in the parade.

(My girls waving to all the "royalty" girls)

Later in the day, we able to slip in a little nap and a family BBQ with the Harris family. It was good to see everyone and my girls loved playing at Grandma & Grandpa Harris' house.

Finally, the fireworks! We typically do our family fireworks down in Provo at Justin's parents house and then sit on the deck to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks (they have a great view o them). But this year Justin's parents were in Oregon to watch Josh run in the Olympic Trials. But, Taylor kept asking to watch the big fireworks...so being the softy parents that we are, we drove back down to Provo and followed that tradition as well. The only hiccups were that for some reason Taylor was scared to death of our personal fireworks and ran like 30 yards away to ensure she wouldn't get burned. But the Stadium of Fire fireworks were a hit for everyone.

To top it all off...we got to hurry home to watch Josh's big race--the Olympic Trials for the 10K. He did awesome...such an amazing runner! Unfortunately, he took 5th place and only the top 3 get to go the Olympics, but we are so proud of him regardless! What a cool experience to run in the Olympic Trials for the USA team on the 4th of July! He is so incredibly talented, dedicated and humble that it is seriously hard to image sometimes. I know that I am a little biased...but we love him tons!!