Independence Day

The 4th of July is quite possibly my favorite holiday, right there in the running with Christmas...that's right, I said it. But really, there's something about having a spouse in the Military that kicks up your patriotism about a million notches...that and plus a man in uniform, mostly MY man in uniform, is pretty dang cute. We say the pledge of allegiance together every morning before we go to work. ...just kidding, but that would be pretty intense huh?! My kitchen is Americana, the flag flies out in front of our house, and I have an app on my itouch that tells me all kinds of fun facts, quotes, and biographical information on our founding fathers (don't judge me. It's a really cool app ok?). So when the 4th rolls around each year I make sure to soak up as much red, white, and blue as I can! 

With that being said, this year we were fortunate enough to spend the holiday with the other half of our "original quad," the Haro's. We seem to have made the 4th of July a tradition for the four of us dating back to 2005 watching the fireworks at Tempe Town Lake. Since then we've taken our show on the road to various other firework infested skies, but we've always managed to spend it together...as evidence by the fantastic photos below...

Pretend Abel and Tyah are right next to us, we can't seem to find their photo from that year..tragic, I know.

2005

2006

2007

2008

We seem to have been having too much fun with our sparklers to take a good picture that year, but hey, it looks like Nate is pooping fire, so I think it's a fair trade.

2009

Heber Fireworks

2010

2011

And this year was no disappointment either! I volunteered my parents house for this year's shindig, after all, they are the ones with the pool. So after some wonderfully prepared hot dogs and hamburg's by the boys (and by wonderfully, I mean they survived a full-on fire) we were ready for some serious pool time!

Oh, and let me show you the super cool banner I made for the occasion, it reads "Freedom." Very "4th of July" wouldn't you say?

...I'm pretty pleased how it turned out, if I do say so myself

...moving on...back to pool time!

And who says white men can't jump? You go Nate, you go

Nate and Abel had a pretty creative round of "HORSE" going on...

Abel seemed to have eventually succumbed to the pressure

While we were swimming I came up with the genius idea to ask my dad for his waterproof camera. The following photos are the product of my genius idea.

I like to call this one "The Mermaid"

And this is my best impression of the Baywatch Babes, on my way to rescue a drowning swimmer...actually Nate couldn't grasp the concept of letting all his air out in order to sink to the bottom, so he kept floating up at me, and in all honesty...well, I shoved him down to the pool floor. Whatever it takes for a good picture right??

There was another, REALLY funny photo of these two, but I wasn't sure I had permission to post it on the world wide web, so you'll have to enjoy, what I like to refer to as, the  "Sitting Chiefs," for now...still pretty funny if you ask me...especially since Nate is still floating to the top 

After we were done frolicking in the water, we capped off the afternoon with desert

Not too shabby eh?

I promise I'm wearing clothes, if you look closely you can see the strap to my bathing suit around my neck. Next year I will  make sure whatever I put on display is not blocking any article of clothing!

And then we were off to Tyah's parents' house for even more food and best of all, fireworks!

The Ferguson's have a new house out in Gilbert that sits behind Central Christian Church. The Church decided to put on a first annual big fireworks display, so we "ooo'd" and "ahhh'd" at the fireworks from our very own driveway! No crowds to fight, parking wars, or dirty porta-potty's, just a front row seat for the best part of the day! 

While we were anxiously awaiting the fireworks, Abel was playing with these popper things and kept throwing them at Tyah, to which she replied, and gave us this great one-liner for the night: "Quite throwing explosives at my feet!!" Love it.

   

What a fun holiday to celebrate all things American!  Let's always keep in mind, freedom is not free, and for that I am thankful for the people, like my husband, who are willing to fight to preserve all good things our country was founded upon!

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."-George Orwell

Here's to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit...

"I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet through all the gloom I see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth all the means. This is our day of deliverance."-John Adams 1776

Ditto Mr. Adams, Ditto