The Ragged Old Flag

(I'm not sure why the slideshow doesn't seem to be working... if anyone has any ideas, let me know! I copied the HTML code and inserted it into the edit HTML part when I posted this... post. I've successfully done this before. What's wrong with it?!)

We had a really fun 4th of July weekend. I have always loved the 4th of July--I loved watching the fireworks when I was a kid, and even more when I was a teenager and I got to go out with my friends! One year my family and a bunch of my friends rode the train into Philadelphia to watch the fireworks show. That was really fun, and it was especially neat to be in Philadelphia, our nation's birthplace!

But this year was fun too. We started the weekend on Thursday, when Jason's best friend Dan and his wife Jess came over to hang out. Dan and Jess live in San Francisco but they were in town visiting, and it was really wonderful to see them! It was just like old days (only now we have two kids). I think the last time we saw them was last March.

On Friday morning, Jason and I took the girls to North Canyon Park to eat patriotic muffins (blueberry and cranberry) and go on a nature walk. While we were there, we discovered the Great and Spacious Building from Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life! Who would've thunk it was here in Utah all along.

Friday evening we went to a BBQ at Dan's parent's house, and Tempe met her new grandma, Grandma Hardy. Dan's mom was really sweet and got Tempe some toys, and played with her, and let her help unload the dishwasher... and by the end of the night, Tempe was calling her grandma. When we got home from the BBQ, we got out some fireworks and sparklers to show Tempe before bed. She had a lot of fun, even though the screaming fountain kind of startled her. She wasn't even afraid of the sparkler!

On Saturday, we went out with Dan and Jess to Chili's because I have been craving ribs for a while. I ate a whole rack of ribs, all by myself, and if the waiter had offered us dessert, I would have had dessert, too! (I have been so hungry lately--I guess from nursing)

We concluded our 4th of July weekend at another BBQ on Saturday night. This one was thrown by my friend Christina and her husband Spencer, who were visiting from Idaho. Christina and I went to high school together and were really good friends--in fact, she was my very first friend in PA, and she helped me so much as I got settled into a new school and ward. I don't know what I would have done without her! We haven't seen each other since my wedding, 3 years ago, so it was absolutely fabulous catching up with her.

Whew, it was a busy weekend, and it was especially fun because we got to catch up with some old friends. That's the great thing about Utah! Even though a lot of our friends have moved away, most of them still have ties to Utah so they have to come back and visit!

Now we just need the CHENEYS to come and visit us :)