Independence Day

To me a fabulous fourth of July has to include

fireworks, family, friends, food, and fun...in no particular order!

However, this year we added some WORK.  Taking advantage of Tyler's day off of work we spent a few hours at home working on some small home projects before taking off for the day.  The fun things later on in the day kept the kids working hard too and highly motivated to be quicker than usual with their morning jobs.

We spent the day hiking to Bear River Falls and then playing in the river afterwards.  

 It was hot and unfortunately we didn't have our swim suits on, but oh did that COLD water feel SO refreshing on our tired feet!  It looks like a fun place we may want to visit again with the slow flowing water that many were enjoying on inter-tubes. 

And there was a lot of really fun rocks to collect and skip with.

Megan found this cute, heart-shaped rock.

Andrew jumped right in and waded in his clothes to the middle of the river to join in some fun over there.

It had to be SO cold and flowing quite well in a few small areas, but he smiled the entire time.

We came home and spent the night barbecuing and visiting with friends.  

My girls and I had made the fun layered jello (found here) in between our morning 

projects and it was a big hit!!

 Especially among these two cute, three year olds...

Of course, we ended the night with fireworks! 

Always a FAVORITE for the kidos!!

How grateful we are to live in this beautiful, highly blessed land.

We had a great day celebrating it!!