4th of July to Remember

I reached into the back of all my memories to compare and decided this was definitely the best 4th of July I have ever had. It was packed with fun and family, and what could be better than those two? I will give you a quick rundown and slideshow of our day from dawn to dusk!



I woke up early! Whoa! 5:45 a.m. early and was so excited I couldn't sleep. I read for a while and then got ready for the day, which might not seem so amazing to everyone, but the fact that Lucy outslept me by two hours was actually much more than amazing, it was a miracle. Starting the day with a book, shower and breakfast baby free is definitely a moment of bliss for a mother!

We booked it to get to the Parade on time and glory in our highly prized seats that David won (in the shade, might I add!) See the previous post for details on how he won the seats. Usually we get to the Parade in time to see the last 10 minutes, so being there for the full thing was really exciting and really got me in the spirit to celebrate our country! Lucy loved it! She watched intently and clapped every few minutes. It is so fun to share experiences with her and watch her take them in!

After the parade Lani, Sierra and Heidi took a trip to Wal Mart to deck themselves in Hannah Montana attire, while Dave and I relaxed, read, and chatted with my Mom, while Lucy took and extremely long 3 hour nap. Oh, what heaven! We ate good food and got ready for the show, complete with our Holiday Lucy Photo Shoot tradition and then started walking to the Stadium for the main event: STADIUM OF FIRE!!!

The show was amazing! Glen Beck gave a very inspirational talk about what it means to be an American, while Skydivers from all of the armed forces Skdived into the Stadium. Then the Stadium of Fire dancers put on a good show. Blue Man Group performed which was very enjoyable! They were really funny and unlike any musical group I have ever heard before. Of course Miley Cyrus sang (I actually wasn't that impressed. She only sang Miley Cyrus songs, not her Hannah Montana songs which are way better!), and then we watched the best fireworks we have ever seen! Lucy clapped all through the concert, she loves when we watch something and people clap because she knows what to do. I would rather bring her along to stuff than get a babysitter just because it is so fun watching her get excited and clapping! We were so close ash was falling on us! Lucy was really pretty good. She squawked a little toward the end of Miley and was getting really tired, but settled down and was excited as ever for the fireworks. Actually she was having a hard time at first because I was trying to cover her ears. She was really mad and wiggling all over the place. I finally stopped trying to cover her ears and she was completely happy watching the fireworks, loud booming and all! My favorite part of the whole day was watching her point up at the Fireworks, wondering what they were and why we were celebrating instead of sleeping. She was really in awe. Someday, Lucy, you'll understand why we are so excited on this day and why your life is the wonderful life it is because of our forefathers courage!

She just watched and wondered until a piece of ash got in her eye. We were all getting a little stuff in our eyes. I had to take her to the bathroom and wash her eye out, so I missed the finale, but it was such a great day I didn't care. In my hurry to get Lucy taken care of, I didn't bring my cell phone and then when we came out of the restroom the whole stadium was trying to get out, so i didn't know how I was going to find David. I went back to our seats, but David was gone. I wasn't really panicked because we don't live that far away and we would have met up eventually, but Dave had the stroller check ticket and Lucy is 22 lbs that I didn't really want to lug up the hill, in the dark, at 11:00 p.m. I decided I would go to the stroller check and look for him there. Meanwhile, I prayed. I asked very specifically if Heavenly Father would please let David know I was going to the stroller check. When I finished my prayer I felt confident I would find David there. I felt so confident I almost wasn't surprised when he came right up to me at the stroller check. I asked how he knew to meet me here and he just said "It was the only place I could think of." I love those small moments the Lord completely answers your prayers and you just know every minute of your life is being guided and watched over carefully.

We topped off the night splurging with some ice cream cake decorated with strawberries and blueberries to look like a flag by my fabulous cake decorating sister, Heidi. And, even more excitingly, I got to eat it because I timed it so that I was introducing dairy into Lucy's diet the last couple days! It was really really good, but Lucy did have a reaction to dairy so it might be the last scrumptious treat I eat in a while (speaking of my crazy diet, I have lost 10 pounds, in the last 2 months because of it! I don't really know if that is something to brag about or not! It is kind of like "yeah I look good, but can't eat normally and probably should not be losing weight so quickly.")

Anyway, thanks for letting me share this exciting Independence Day with all of you! Sometimes life is really really hard and then sometimes is really really awesome. I think it makes both parts of life better if we are able to share our woes and excitements with our friends (which is where blogging fits in), so thanks again for being excited about my day with me!