Fourth of July weekend

We had so many wonderful things to celebrate over the 4th of July weekend. First of all, my brother Jason and his family were making their way across the country from Virginia to California...so we were spoiled when SLC became their last pit stop on their long journey! It's not very often that we get to see all of them. It was an extra special treat to have them in town to celebrate the 4th AND to be here for Lilly's blessing day! (They get extra bonus points for coming to town, or being in town, for every blessing day that we have had in our family!) So, of course, we part-ay-ed all weekend long!

My Dad's friend invited all of us down to his home in Alpine to ride his horses on his mountain property. It was a beautiful morning to do such a thing and everyone had a great time!

This is my cowboy Daddy-o! (This is probably one of my favorite pictures of my dad, by far!)
Sam was not timid at all. He really liked riding the horse...although we did put Matt on the horse with him to help keep him steady on the steep terrain.
Tyler was just so-so about riding the horse with Matt, but he really liked feeding the horses carrots after we were all done.
When we all got back from Alpine we started setting up at my mom and dad's house for a big all afternoon/evening party and BBQ! Yee-haw! My mom really went all out and thought of everything! We had fun water games to play, we borrowed a bouncy house for the kids to jump in (thanks Mary Ann), plenty of yummy food and treats, and good times had by all. Here are all the cousins and Great-Grandpa Rod having some fun.

Somehow I managed to get a great shot of my bro's, their wives, and my hubs. Hey good lookin....
Tyler insisted on bringing his super hero cape to wear during the water games. Maybe it gave him super water balloon powers??
After her nap, Lilly made her grand entrance to the party in her Fourth of July outfit (courtesy of Thrift Towne!...yeah, I really like thrift stores)
This pretty much sums up what Sam thought about the "day" fireworks. However, he really liked the big "night" firework show at the Country Club (a fun Cushing tradition that we have been doing since I was a little girl).

I also had to include this picture of the boys and their cousins, Rhiannon and Wade. We had them over to our house one night so that Jason and Verity could go on a hot date. The kids had a great time playing together and getting all decked out in the dress-ups. Crazies...