July 4th

I love Independence Day, especially in Soda Springs, Idaho. It's funny how this small town comes to life on July 4th. I tried to explain to Jacob why I love it so much, and we've come up with this conclusion. It's the tradition, familiarity, and comfort of the holiday. Every year it's always the amazing same, so here's how it works.

7:45 a.m. - We leave to meet the runners/walkers at the 5K. Jacob is currently the reigning walking champion three years running. This year he came in just over 36 minutes, ya he's that good!

Go daddy!

8:30 a.m. - Return home, eat breakfast usually cinnamon rolls or muffins, and great ready for the parade.

9:30 a.m. - Walk to the see the parade. We usually park our cars where we want to watch the parade the night before, that way we know we have a good spot.

10:00 a.m. - Parade starts. Which includes the typical small town parade: fire trucks, tractors, cowgirls, high school drill teams and cheerleaders, lots of candy, and lots of familiar faces.

Malachi Peterson and Steven had the same patriotic outfit (thanks Dorene!)

World's largest man-made geyser

Having fun with Great Grandma BallsYes, that's a large shopping cart from Broulim's

That was good, huh mom
Steven enjoyed the parade a lot more than I thought he would!

11:00 a.m. - We make our way to the park where the library has a book sale. Then there's catching up with friends who are at the park walking around and enjoying the many booths and attractions.

11:30 a.m. - Return home and get ready for the family lunch; which is either a weenie roast in the fire pit, or hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. There's lots of food and visiting with everyone.

The rest of the day is not planned, but really just relaxing and enjoying everyone's company. During some part of the afternoon, Jacob and I have made a tradition to go back down the parade route to look for treasures that people may have missed. There is a store in Soda that always throws out money of some sort; 2 years ago it was pennies, this year it was nickles. For fun, Jacob and I go for a walk and see how much money we can round up. This year we found $1.06 and a Canadian nickel. My family asked if all of that walking was worth the dollar, and you know what? It totally was; it's a fun and silly tradition that we've started. I love it, I think we're awesome. End of story.

This year, since the 4th landed on Sunday, we had to head back home shortly after the luncheon. BUT we were able to spend time with the Morrise side and do fireworks with them. Steven had a love/hate relationship with the fireworks. They made him jump and he'd often cover his ears, but he couldn't keep him eyes off them!


We feel so blessed to have such great families that we can celebrate our freedoms with!