During this past weekend I really felt prompted to do a better job keeping my blog updated. I felt like it would be important for my posterity to understand the nuts and bolts of our crazy life, and I was doing a disservice by not recording things. I found some family history questions online that I think I might use as writing prompts to help me in my quest to do this, so (hopefully) there will be many more regular posts in the near future. Fingers crossed!
Today I just wanted to take a small moment to talk about our Independence Day celebration this year. This is the first time in a long time .... maybe ever ... that Herman and I have not been together for this holiday. He is with Hyrum at Boy Scout Camp. It is actually their second camp this year. They had the camp for our ward two weeks ago, but Rolla at one point only had one Deacon going to camp, and since Taft and Hyrum are good friends, Taft's family asked if Hyrum would go. When Rolla had trouble getting enough leaders to attend Herman volunteered as well. So now they are gone and the rest of us are plugging along here.
Which leads me to my holiday dilemma. Herman LOVES shooting off fireworks. He always goes with the kids to the fireworks stands and buys a million explosives to shoot off with the kids. We usually have quite the show. I, on the other hand, am not a huge fan of fireworks. Oh, I love the big displays put on by cities and organizations. But when it comes to my own family I am always super worried that someone is going to blow their hands off. I let Herman manage the whole thing. This year, since Herman would be gone, I originally planned on just skipping the festivities completely and heading to the drive-in theater in St. James for a double feature movie instead. But Herman and Hyrum left at 3:30 in the morning today, and I didn't sleep well after that, so I wasn't interested in driving home late too drowsy, not to mention the driving dangers that could arise because of the holiday traffic. I considered seeing the awesome display on Ft. Leonard Wood, but I wasn't exactly how the security measures would be, and I didn't feel like navigating all of that in order to get onto post. Then, throughout the day I kept getting these puppy dog looks from the kids as they asked why we weren't getting fireworks like usual. It's a tradition, after all.
So I caved. We ran to the fireworks stand near the Price Cutter that is run by some local teachers, and I sent the kids off with a budget to explore their options. Minsy loaded up on the cute novelty fireworks that are no fun at all to set off. But she was happy, so that was okay. Spencer, weirdly, was not interested in getting anything at all. In the past he's enjoyed doing the fireworks, but this year he just wasn't in the mood, I guess. Katie and JoJo were my enthusiasts. They got tons of fun things to shoot off. Katie wanted to get lots of things to shoot off in seminary whenever someone in our class had a birthday during the year. I told her that was totally against church fire codes, but I do appreciate her enthusiasm. I tried to get one more expensive firecracker that would be a pretty display. The problem was that I had no idea what I was doing. I never made these choices before. I grabbed something that looked okay. It ended up being fine, but our display was nowhere near as awesome as it is when Herman is in charge.
We didn't have a picnic or barbecue or anything. Normally I try to do something like that, but this year I just decided to make homemade bread and then use that for French Toast. We had fresh blueberries and strawberries and whipped cream on the top. Delicious! Once the kitchen was clean ... miracle! ... we headed over to my parents' house to shoot off the fireworks. My mom is in the mental hospital in Bolivar right now, so she wasn't there, but my dad and Ryan sat on the deck and watched the festivities with us. It didn't go quite as I expected. I thought that Spencer would run the show, but he didn't do a single thing with the fireworks. He sat on the deck with us and sketched things. That's my artist! Minsy freaked out almost immediately. She wouldn't go anywhere near the fireworks ... even to watch them light her novelty things. She did not like the loud noises at all. Katie and Spencer were my pyrotechnic experts. They had a blast lighting things on fire. JoJo needs to restrain himself sometimes because I think he would love to create some super large explosions. But they were safe and did a great job presenting a show for us. It wasn't the most amazing display ever, but it was nice enough for our family, and it gave the kids the chance to keep the tradition alive for another year.
It is so strange to go through these holidays each year and notice how much smaller our family is getting. Laney, Savannah, and Hyrum were gone this year. Spencer will be gone next year on his mission, I suspect. Our little flock is spreading their wings and flying away I am so grateful for the traditions that our family has, even though they aren't super extravagant or anything like that. Still, they are a glue that binds us together and creates the wonderful memories that I will cherish always, even as my babies leave and begin their own families with their own traditions.
Happy 4th!
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