Saturday, July 9, 2011

one of my favorite holidays!

I LOVE the 4th of July.  Always have.  It's such a fun holiday where you spend time with family & friends and celebrate a wonderful gift we have been given- freedom in America!

I made a patriotic dessert for one of the parties we went to.  I really just kinda made it up as I went, but it turned out yummy and looked cute so I guess that's all that matters ;)  I had made a Funfetti cake (that was a special patriotic one so it had red & blue candies in it) and then broke it up into little pieces.  I put a layer of the cake, then a layer of cool whip, then a layer of strawberries & blueberries, then repeated until the trifle dish was full. SO easy!
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We drove to a nearby town, Acton, to go to the annual parade & epic water fight.  We went to it last year (and Dathan & I went to it the year I was pregnant with Sean).  It starts early in the morning (we left our house at 7:00!) because the roads get closed for the parade.  So our friends have a big breakfast brunch before the parade starts.  While the food was getting finished up my brother Timmy (aka "Uncle B") played with Nolan outside.  The lighting is pretty that early in the morning ;)
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Sean had a better idea of what to do!
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Our annual family picture on the 4th
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Then more bubbles while everyone ate.
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Our friend's backyard backs up to the road that the parade is on.  This parade has turned into a big water war between the people on the floats and the people watching the parade.  I'm pretty sure our group has the most fun AND the most ammunition out of anyone else who watches the parade ;)  It's hard to get good shots of all the action because I would get soaked anytime I got close.  As long as my camera didn't get wet, I didn't mind, because it was HOT!
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Yep. That was Dathan right in the middle of all the action :)

After the parade we headed to a town about an hour & a half away to my best friend Erin's parents' house.  Her dad's birthday is on the 4th so they always have a big "rib fest & pool party."  We were having SO much fun swimming (ALL DAY LONG) that this is pretty much the only photo I got of the party (not nearly as many as I took last year).  This is Sean and Bailey (Erin's brother's daughter... they just love each other & have so much fun when they are together) resting after swimming all day.  We have so many pictures of them cuddled on this chair watching tv.
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I already can't wait until next year!  And we will have another Stephens in the mix... hooray!

1 comment:

Nancy said...

That picture of the 4 of you is beautiful, Erica!!
Your dessert is, too!!