4th of July

Independence Day is my favorite holiday (along with Easter)!! I just can't get enough of the red white and blue, the parades, the fireworks, the patriotic music, the warm weather, the yummy food, and the fact that pretty much EVERYONE in our country celebrates it! 

As mentioned in the previous post, the night before, we got to see a big firework show with Grandma and Grandpa Zavoral and Uncle Matt in the Sacramento area. Then on July 4, we had a full day of fun! First, we tried to get a picture of the boys in front of the flag.

Tanner was super excited that I remembered to bring his festive sunglasses.

We ate breakfast at the church get-together. Katie, Steve and the twins came into town the night before. The twins were so cute running around the church courtyard with Gramz!

When we got home, we made an attempt to get pictures of Grandma with the four grandkids. None of the kids liked that idea!

And Cody got jealous!

Here's the best we could get.

Tanner and Dallin played with their cousins all morning!

Jeremy and Steve worked hard all morning and afternoon fixing an accident in the garage. If you saw the work they did, you would agree that they are heroes.

 I made this delicious fruit pizza

and this seven layer bean dip. 

For dinner, we brought our festive food to a big party at Grandma Davidson's house. There were lots of cousins and lots of yummy food, including homemade ice cream! 

Dallin and Grandma June.

It was really fun being with everyone and trying to catch up with each other's lives.

Grandma learned how to sit like this from her African friends when she and Grandpa served missions in Africa.

Uncle Steve Bush had some fireworks to display for all of us. Then we played with sparklers!

Here's what everyone looked like when seeing a cool firework. 

When the party was pretty much over, we found Josh playing piano with our boys.

What a great looking Fourth of July family!

I am so grateful to be an American!! This past year, I have come to love my country in a new way. Our tiny Minnesotan town has many refugees and immigrants from numerous countries in Africa and Southeast Asia. They come here to work at the factory, and quite a few of them are members of our church or investigating our church. It is incredible to hear their stories of hardship, their long journeys to America, and how happy they are to call themselves US citizens. There are a few friends from Africa that I've gotten to know well, and it's been amazing to teach and serve them and also learn from them. They are a blessing and inspiration to me! 

We have so many freedoms and luxuries here. This fourth of July season I have been trying to appreciate everything we have just a little bit more. God truly has blessed America! Let's remember that it's God who has given us these blessings and let's live in such a way that will behoove God to keep pouring blessings on this great country.

Chillin in Citruis Heights

After our fun in Portland, we flew down to Sacramento area for 1.5 weeks to see the Zavoral side of the family. This post is about our first 3 days hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Z and Uncle Matt. 

I love how Dallin looks so bored in this picture. Traveling can be rough when you're only 1 yr old.

Tanner and Uncle Matt played sword fighting in the pool.

Dallin kicked and swam with Daddy.

Tanner and GramZ played "school" under the kitchen table. 

Gramz had a kid-size Dr. Suess backpack for Tanner to play with, and he loved it so much that she let him take it home. It's his new favorite thing.

Grandma Z and Tanner made American Fruit Kabobs for 4th of July...

while Jeremy slept... 

and I rocked Dallin to sleep on my back.

The kabobs turned out great! Gramz made more for the 4th of July dinner a few days later.

We went to Fairy Tale Town! 

I've heard so much about this place from Jeremy's childhood memories, it was really fun to finally go there!

Dallin was really excited about all the farm animals.

This is the Crooked Mile. It's a fun, skinny and crooked path for kids to follow while thinking about the crooked man in the nursery rhyme that walked a crooked mile. 

Tanner had a really hard time understanding the concept of following the path to the end. Both times that Jeremy tried to take him, Tanner started out fine. Then as quick as a light switch, panic took over Tanner and he freaked out! He started shouting that they were going the wrong way and insisted that they turn around. Jeremy wouldn't let him turn around because other kids were also walking the path, and there isn't room to go both ways. The second time was really dramatic because Tanner was only 20 steps from the end and decided he had to turn around. Tanner screamed and hollered, "The sign says we're going the wrong way!! We have to go that way!!" Grandma tried encouraging him, "You're almost to the end Tanner, come this way, this is the way out!" Tanner was not about to be swayed. "NO! The sign says THIS is the way in!!" Then, Grandma walked right up to the actual sign and spoke with conviction. "Look, Tanner. This says... IN. And over here it says... OUT." Tanner looked stunned. He didn't know what to say, so he just whined. Poor kid. Who would have thought that this nursery rhyme could make a little person so stressed out?!

Dallin on the otherhand, LOVED the crooked mile and walked the whole entire thing, toddling, climbing, pointing; all smiles the whole way!

Fairy Tale Town has lots of slides. Dallin especially loved the climbing involved with all of them.

Even Grandma went down some of the slides!!

Here's our family with Mother Goose! 

(Notice that me and the boys are in red, white and blue? The boys had enough 4th of July outfits to last the whole week!)

Tanner was really excited when we found the toy trains. We were so relieved to have some cheers and smiles from him! He kept busy on those things for a long time.

We ended the day with the Pirate Ship, where we discovered how protective Gramz can be when it comes to her grandson getting his turn, haha. She really told some little kid off!

Here's the gang chilling out and playing with trains in the family room one evening.

Day with GrampZ

Tanner went on a fun date with Grampz to the Folsom Valley Railway. Grampz got Tanner an adorable conductor's hat and then they rode a train! Tanner was in heaven! They also went to a little zoo together.

On Independence Eve (July 3), we all went to a park that had-you guessed it-train rides!! 

We had to take a long walk from our car. It was fun watching everyone make their way to the station.

Tanner got to sit in the front!

Dallin sat in the back with Jeremy and LOVED the ride. Every now and then, Dallin would start dancing to the rhythm of the train going clickety clack along the track.

It was a really fun ride!

 Next, we got treats from some food trucks. The boys and I had dippin dots!

Then, we sat and watched a firework show!! The boys loved it. Dallin was surprised by the first boom. He sat up quickly in my arms, leaned against my chest and stared in amazement, but no tears! It was fun seeing Tanner experience the boom in his chest during the finale and then hearing him try to describe what he felt. I was so glad we got to see the show, and it worked out perfectly to do it on the eve of the big day. Our first 3 days in Sac Town were a big hit!!