Happy Independence Day

The 4th of July is the one time of year we actually have friends and family over to our house for a fun BBQ. Scott breaks out the smoker and cooks up some scumptious meats, everyone else brings salads, chips and desserts, and we have a great time. The weather was less than desirable this year (low 60's and overcast - even a few spits of rain here and there), but we persevered and I think everyone had a great time. There were lots of kids - and lots of babies. We have some friends in our ward that had twins on September 9th, so they are 2 weeks older than Jackson. Some other friends have a one year old little girl, and my cousins and his family came with their 6 week old baby. Along with all the other kids and adults - it was a full house! I think fun was had by all!

I didn't get many pictures of the BBQ portion (ok - I didn't take any pictures, Scott took these with his cell phone). Jackson tried his first ribs. At first he wasn't so sure... But he was soon gnawing away like a true Wallis (or Conrad, it goes both ways with this family!)

We got set up for the fireworks display pretty early. Everyone was getting cold, so we decided to get started before it was even close to dark. It was just barely getting really dark out when we finished up. All the neighbors were just coming out to get their displays going! Oh well!

If you remember from last year, Adam and I watched the show from inside the house. He does not like loud noises - at all!! Scott had a brilliant idea this year and let Adam wear the ear phones he uses when he goes shooting at the gun range. They worked like a charm! During the day everytime Adam would hear a big fire cracker go off, he would run in the house and put them on. He'd wear them around for awhile, then take them off until there was another big blast. He wore them all night, and we all got to enjoy the fireworks. Here, Adam and his good next door buddy are all cozy under blankets ready to watch.

Adam actually got comfortable enough to try out sparklers.

My dad brought about 8 packages of Roman Candles, so for the finale, we had several rounds of the roman candle line-up. Adam and Xander are peaking out from behind their dad's legs.

Adam was feeling pretty confident, so he let dad talk him in to giving one a try. I like the look of concern on his face here.

That soon ended, and he had fun shooting off several - with dad's help, of course.

He thought it was fun!

Thanks to all our friends who came out to help us celebrate! It was so fun to spent the evening with great people! I feel blessed to live in and to raise my children in this great country!