4th of July celebration

The Fourth of July took place on a Sunday this year, so a lot of celebrations took place on the day before.

• We started off the morning by watching a flag ceremony performed by the scouts. Josh was asked to coordinate it and get the other scouts involved. It was great to see cub scouts and boy scouts participate in the ceremony. Then we ate a yummy breakfast cooked by the Bishopric. They can cook a really good breakfast.


• After breakfast, we participated in a neighborhood parade which has become quite a tradition for the members of our ward. This year, we hauled our trailer with our kids riding in the back. On the parade route, we picked up several people along the parade route who were tired, hot, and needed a ride to the end. Dani rode her bike with some of her friends and stayed ahead of us towards the front of the parade.


• After the parade there was plenty of watermelon and cool water available. The watermelon is always a hit with my girls. It's such a cool treat after being in the heat during the parade. Amazingly there was no water fight this year!

• After the parade, a neighbor gave some golf cart rides - Golf cart rides are always a hit! The girls each got a ride with their friends. Dani wishes she could have driven it around the neighborhood. She loves driving the Barney's golf cart in Benson.

• We went to the Mesa Arts Center/Downtown Mesa to view the fireworks. They had cool displays which make great backdrops. They had laser fireworks launch from the buildings and we were just below those firework displays. Immediately after, they had the traditional fireworks about a block away. Josh, Dani, Emily, and I went to get a closer look and closer to the fireworks. The show was amazing and they had 3 finales, which made the firework show much more fun.