The White House: Belated 4th of July

I just realized that I didn't write about our 4th of July! How silly of me. Well - it was quite the event let me tell you. We were definitely missing our family traditions in Utah. My family goes all crazy out.

Just for a walk down memory lane (if you don't want to go that way - just skip down) - we would always get up just after 5 and head over to Provo to set up our spot for the parade. Then we would go see the hot air balloons rising while having the fireman's breakfast. I always loved the pink pig and Smokey the Bear. I also always dreamed of getting to go up in one...until reality hit me a few years ago realized you depend only on the wind and your tank to keep you safe...I have definitely become a scaredy cat as of late. I think the whole having a family thing that has become ultimately valuable to me has made me that way. Let's just say I'm thankful Steve isn't into the whole motorcycle-bungee-jump-free-rock-climbing sort of thing. He has gone sky diving (I'm pretty sure his mother is still mad at him for doing it -which I fully support) but promised he would never do something like that again. Anyway - back to reminiscing - after the balloons we go hang out until the parade starts where we completely bake and I get a killer flip flop tan line. My favorite year we sat next to these college guys with a megaphone who were completely hilarious as they tried to chat with all the politicians and ask out all the pageant winners. After the parade we would fight traffic for about 45 minutes until we would pick up some KFC for our lunch up the canyon. Their coleslaw is my absolute favorite - don't ask me why - but it was a craving I had during my pregnancy. We'd head up Hobble Creek Canyon to our relative's property where we would eat, visit, play in the creek, play some volleyball, and enjoy all the new babies everyone brought. :) Later that afternoon we would do a giant family golf tournament where my first shot would always be incredible - I'd do amazing on the first hole (which usually meant a double bogey or bogey) and then it would all go downhill from there. My dad has always been in charge of it. I always loved all the goodie bags and drinks as a kid...okay - even now. After the golfing we go and recuperate until the fireworks that night. I loved every second of it and always looked forward to the 4th. When I was on my mission in England, I think that was the holiday I missed the most - also because you don't celebrate it in England for obvious reasons.
The stories Steve has told me about his traditions had the big parade (a must) and a big family BBQ at his house with lots of extended family. They would do a huge mud bowl on their property in the back and get completely covered in mud! They would also do the fireworks that night too. I'm going to have to update this when Steve gets home so I can get a full account...or maybe I'll just make him write it himself. :)

Insert Steve-
So, this is my first entry into what Stacey calls "our blog". So here goes... The 4th of July in my family has always been great fun. Over the years it has become smaller and smaller due to the kids moving out and extended family doing their own thing. The easiest experiences with the 4th that I can remember were when we lived in Provo. It was just a short walk to the parade (about 2 blocks) and not that much further to see the hot air balloons. We always attended the parade where my brothers and I would throw snaps at the floats and horses (they are now banned from the event). After which we would return to our house and have a big BBQ with all my cousins and extended family. My Dad always made homemade root-beer (American Classic!) and burned the meat. My mother would socialize and do the rest of the party with my aunts. As the years passed and we moved to Mapleton the party/BBQ followed. But the party had now turned into a bigger event where the "Mud Bowl" was held. My parent who now had 2 acres of land would flood 1/2 acre (where the garden was not being used) and we would have a big football game, tug of war and volleyball game. It was always a big hit with everyone and became an instant classic. My parents had 2 ways of cleaning the mud off everyone when they were done. first you were sprayed with the fire hose and then sent to have a shower in our downstairs bathroom with the way paved with towels over the carpet. Needless to say the bathroom looked like the field after the day was over.
Mostly is was my mothers family who attended but others were always welcome and we frequently had others there to celebrate. Later that day after the siesta everyone would head out to do their own thing for fireworks. Most years we would light our own fireworks in the driveway, until we got older and the fireworks got better....and more illegal. Now days the party has moved up the canyon and we either watch the Stadium of fire (outside the stadium) or we watch our neighbors who have their own fireworks. Anyway, that is brief overview of my 4th from my childhood.

This 4th we got up and headed to Hillsboro for the parade. Ross liked it MUCH better than last year where he cried the whole time from all the big noises that wouldn't stop. He loved all the huge trucks and any float that had fun music going. I will say - I was a bit disappointed there weren't very many floats at all - mostly lots of cars with a flag or two on them. Lame! BUT - it definitely was a parade much different than our Utah ones. There were loads of democratic politicians doing lots of publicizing, and then this awesome Christian church had a rock band performing while they all passed out flyers inviting everyone to their church - I guess that's Oregon's version of the missionaries marching and singing in Utah. :) There were also two large companies of Latinos in authentic Mexican attire - huge sombreros and all - on horses with the American flag and the Mexican flag....I was a little confused since this is a U.S. holiday - but they sure looked cool.

4th of July Boy

Lovin' the Trucks :)

Mesmerized :) Both of them!

There was a Rose club in the parade - LOVED it :)

The Latino entry...the kids kept taking up the whole road - police officers had to keep shooing them back so the marching bands could get by!

Ross spent all the time there weren't hugs trucks - wandering around, trying to steal other kids' treats, and socializing with our parade neighbors. We had a great time. :)

Ross really liked this little girl's chair - he wouldn't leave it alone - the stink! Or maybe he just had a crush on the girl...and would just stand behind her like a stalker...let's go with the chair idea. :)

Chattin' up some ladies...

And some grandparents. Ross was VERY friendly to everyone.

We went home for Ross's nap and started to get ready for the BBQ Steve and our friend Jenning were planning. Let me just tell you - this started out as a small little BBQ for a few friends since we didn't have family around. And this is what happened...

Ross playing with his buddies Wesley and Carter.

Homemade root beer...almost gone!

Cute boys :)

Chatting up some more ladies. :)

Shootin' the Breeze.

We started to invite a few people and then it seemed to escalate quite quickly. You know when you invite a whole bunch of people and then plan for maybe half of them to come? Or in my case - maybe a few of them? Well - every single person we invited said they were coming!!! And there were a handful of them that we had invited the night before as well!! It was really fun though and ended up at the park (which thankfully wasn't reserved). Steve made homemade root beer which everybody LOVED. They kept commenting to him and me how much they enjoyed it...I'm thinking there were a bunch of people there who had never had homemade root beer before. (The recipe is REALLY hard - it involves root beer extract, 5lbs of suger (probably why everyone loved it), 5 gallons of water, and dry ice.) I made the imitation J-Dawg sauce to go with hot dogs which also was a hit. Ross stayed up an hour past his bedtime and was super cranky by the time I dragged him home leaving Steve to finish hosting and clean up. Later than night we decided to go see the fireworks they were doing for the first time in Forest Grove. With our fingers crossed - we woke Ross up and took him to the show. He was incomplete awe of the whole thing. He kept jabbering to us and pointing at the fireworks the whole time like he was saying "Mom - are you seeing this?!!! There it is again! Seriously - what is this?!!" It was a complete hoot. We had a great 4th that's for sure.