Let's pretend it hasn't been over a month since I should've posted this.....
We had a fabulous Independence Day this year!! We started the morning off with a pancake breakfast and flag ceremony at the church. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, milk and juice. Even Ethan ate! Then we stopped at Fred Meyer for a couple things and in their parking lot was a firework stand. Sean and I bought our first-ever legal "illegal" fireworks! See, in Oregon, the artillery shell fireworks (mortars) that launch into the air are illegal... but NOT in Washington! This was our "haul" - about $75 worth of fireworks that we got for $40 between sales and a coupon we had.
Then I baked and iced some 4-5 dozen sugar cookies in a "firework" design.
The afternoon and evening was spent at the Dahls' house where we had eight families.... 17 adults, 18 kids and 2 missionaries. While food prep was going on the kids got to play in the pool the Dahls "inherited" and/or watch the 2-liter soda bottle rocket launcher that Bro. Harris had brought. {
Side-note: All pictures are by me or Dani Mogstad...though some pictures are by me, using Dani's camera!}
(Photos by Dani)
On the menu was pork, beef and chicken kabobs, potato salad, BBQ chicken, hot dogs, chips, veggies and dip, layered bean dip, pretzel/jello salad and fresh berries. Not to mention chocolate pie, fancy homemade marshmallows (dipped in chocolate and rolled in crushed graham crackers - then "toasted") and cookies.
There was lots of post-dinner chatting by the adults; running around, blowing bubbles and playing by the kids and then the anticipation was killing them and we starting breaking out the sparklers and roman candles.
(Photo by Dani)
Ha ha! Oh, this picture makes me laugh. Brian totally reminds me of Sean's brothers and the two of them are good friends.
(Photo by me, using Dani's camera)
(Photo by me, using Dani's camera)
Dang! He is a CUTE kid!!
(Photo by Dani)
(Photo by Dani)
(Photo by Dani)
Look at that face!
(Photo by me, using Dani's camera)
(Photo by me, using Dani's camera)
(Photo by me, using Dani's camera)
PS: This is her cute, red-headed daughter!
(Photo by Dani)
Love the sunlight!
(Photo by me, using Dani's camera)
I had fun trying to catch these two all night, they kept hiding from the camera!
(Photo by me, using Dani's camera)
Mr. Mikey. Gotta love the Indiana Jones look to this picture! The hat, the thing in his mouth and the smoking, double-fisted roman candles.... awesome!
(Photo by me, using Dani's camera)
(Photo by Dani)
And then finally it was dark enough to bring out the "big guns" aka the MORTARS!! Most of the families contributed to the show, so we had quite the display! The sparklers and roman candles {
mainly roman candle wars} continued throughout the night.
Have any of you ever participated in a Roman Candle war?!? Yeah, I hadn't. I'm a rule follower. So when the firework says "
Do NOT hold in hand." I take it pretty literally. Well, our party peeps do not heed that warning and instead have Roman Candle WARS!!
As in, live fireworks pointed at the opponents! Gah!! I couldn't believe it. But after watching a couple rounds and realizing that they were actually pretty careful to aim into the sky or at the other person's feet, I decided it wasn't so bad. It wasn't until the end of the night, though, that I finally relented and joined them.
Me, "lighting up" for my first-ever Roman Candle war. Don't be fooled by the smile. That's a "what the heck am I doing?!" smile!
Conclusion: It was actually kind of fun and I felt like I was Harry Potter, casting spells with my wand. "
Expelliarmus!!"
We had some fun with the camera settings to get these cool shots of sparkler writing...
Love this shot!
Me and two of my best friends in WA - Vicki and Jenn D.
The happy couple!
We had a great time with all our WA friends this year - even if they did tease me all night about not being here last year {
I was in Utah with my mom and sisters}! Sorry Mom and Dad, I think we have a new 4th of July tradition so you're going to have to come up here. Pretty sure Lizzy won't mind one bit!
They each played 2 songs, so the recital was about 10 minutes long! They all did a great job, though. This was actually the first time I had really heard any of them because Sean goes to their homes for the lessons {Win-win for both me and the parents - they don't have to get to our house and come right back after the 1/2 hour lesson and I don't have to try and keep Ethan quiet for each lesson. Plus, the parents are there for the lesson and can hear how their kids are doing/what they are learning.} each week. After the recital we had refreshments and mingled.
(Sorry the lighting isn't the greatest, but I was sitting pretty close and didn't want to distract them with a flash, so they all have very bright back lighting. Oh, well.)
