Independent on Independence Day

Yes that is right.....Nate and I were on different coasts for his favorite holiday, Independence Day. I was in Utah with Dave and Amy and the 3 girls and Nate stayed in DC. I don't know much of what his week entailed but I do know that our friends rescued him from loneliness, boredom, and starvation by having him over for dinner and taking him to the fireworks.

Speaking of fireworks....it will be a difficult toss up what to do from now on for the 4th: Utah or DC. DC is the Nation's Capital, there is a great concert, millions of people and the firework display is impressive but on the other hand we have Utah! And I don't mean the Stadium of Fire I mean the hokey small town Pleasant Grove firework show that is getting better with time but will be hard to top after this year. My mom, dad, 3 sisters, 2 nieces, 1 nephew and I packed up early to get a good spot on the lawn, and that we did, we were maybe 30 yards off from where the fireworks were being hand lit by the PG fire dept. About 10 minutes into the show one of the lit carousels of fireworks tipped over launching a series of rapid canon fireworks straight into the crowd! Women scrambled to protect their children, lawn chairs tipped over to provide faux fox-holesesque protection, there were screams and a rush of people and then a calm as we all found a new seat this time a good half a football field away from the launch pad, not far enough! 3 more rogue fireworks screamed into the crowd at random intervals making for the most memorable 4th ever! It also became a lengthy journal entry (someday maybe) because Beth came from Cali with her babies,

Dad and Nick-who have the worst car accident karma ever-got rear-ended, and Hannah came back from her Semester abroad in Australia. There is the saying, "the sh*t hit the fan" (please excuse), well when Hannah came home and let my mother know she was in love with a German guy she met in Australia and was planning to wed this dude, it wasn't poo that hit..it was a cinder block that broke off all the fan blades, ruined the motor, and then sparked and smoked. At random times during the week I would say things like, "think about your grandchildren growing up 5k miles away, but they will be so cute with their lederhosens." At first it was funny and then I said it while my mom was swallowing and sh choked and I almost killed her so the jokes stopped. And I think those were the highlights. Oh and then there were these.........

and this....(which was my personal favorite)