24th Of July - 2011

The vacation saga continues..........

The 24th of July is my favorite holiday. Or it was when we lived in Utah. Now that we are Nevadans, I am not so enamored. It is too dang hot here. So I was thrilled to be in Utah this year for the holiday. We started out by visiting Grandpa Marty and his dogs.

Sadie is an extreme dog lover. It is unfortunate she lives with me who is committed to being pet free.

We had lunch together, and then Grandpa Marty took the kids to Wal-Mart to choose presents for their birthdays. Since Sades birthday is in January, she was able to choose gifts because she learned how to swim underwater.

While growing up we always spent the 24th of July in Clifton, Idaho, where my mom grew up and where my Grandma still lives. When I was younger, it was a MAJOR small town celebration. Now, not so much.

The kids and I with my mom and Grandma.

I can't tell you the number of times I walked up and down this road as a child:

Although the festivities have somewhat diminished over the years, they still had a big dutch oven dinner, and a few games for the kids. There was also a big talent show (that went on for hours) before the fireworks.

The kids fished for toys:

And did some jumping:

Then when night fell, the FIREWORKS started:

The fireworks were awesome. Just like when I was a kid. In the above picture I would like you to notice something that you will never see at our celebration in Las Vegas. We are all wearing jackets! It was sublime. It was also sublime seeing quite a few of my cousins, aunts and uncles that I don't often get to see. On the way home my cousin Damion and I stopped to buy some lottery tickets, since Powerball was over $100 million! We combined our money and agreed to split our winnings. My tickets yielded $0. But Damion won $7. I have yet to see my half! You just can't trust anyone anymore. :)