July 4th Activities

This was the first 4th of July I've ever spent in Texas... The past summers, Doug's internships and my trips home have always fallen over this holiday. We celebrated in the traditional American way by barbecuing hamburgers and hot dogs and lighting fireworks.

Porter LOVED fireworks, Sophie was very cautious, and preferred to watch from a very safe distance (she's like her mom... those things make me nervous!)

The girl in the picture above is my visiting teaching partner. She's single and her family lives far away, so she was happy to spend the afternoon with us... I think :)

I don't know who had more fun with the fireworks, Doug or Porter. They went out on Tuesday night (the 3rd) and purchased some, and went out on Wednesday (the 4th) and purchased some more. Apparently in Utah, the fireworks that leave the ground are illegal, but not here...

Sophia is eating goldfish her refound favorite. Every time we go to the store, she requests more.

I saw this trifle in a magazine. Isn't it cool? I love how festive is looks. Apparently Doug doesn't always like the trifle's I make, which was news to me... but he really enjoyed this one! My mom gave me the trifle bowl a couple of years ago, and it's really been a fun extra to have in the kitchen!

Some new friends in the ward invited us to accompany them down to IMA HOGG's home (that's not a typo)... someone actually named their daughter IMA and their last name was HOGG (she never married). Her home is preserved for historical value, and tours are given of home home and 15 acre gardens. It was free on the 4th, so we spent a few hours in the early afternoon touring and learning.

The above banjo players makes banjo's and composes songs. One banjo he had made from a gourd. His songs were fun. It was fun to see how much my kids LOVED the musical performances. They sat in rapt attentions, and didn't want to move on.

Drummers

Living History soldiers recreating history.

Our friends have four kids... so with our three, we were quite a crowd in and of ourselves! You can see all of them minus Preston lined up listening to the drummers.

Porter and Sophia listening intently to the above mentioned Banjo player.