The 4th of July

We had a great 4th of July this year!  I told Jacob it was by far my favorite 4th we've had since we've been married.  We spent the day in Marshall with Jacob's family.  We spent a good part of the day playing at the pool, which was a lot of fun!  Celeste and Kalie convinced me to go off the high dive with them, which I don't think I've ever done before.  I'm really scared of heights--it's one of my worst fears, after spiders and bees.  The high dive didn't look all that high from the ground, but I almost chickened out once I was up there.  It looks a LOT higher once you climb up that ladder!  But going back down the ladder actually seemed worse than just jumping into the pool, so I jumped. 

Naomi finally loves swimming, so that makes it so much more enjoyable for our family.  I got her a little inner tube floatie thing, and she LOVED it.  She had a lot of fun floating around and going down the little kiddie slide.  Aleta didn't hate it, but she didn't really start enjoying herself until we were about ready to leave, which was unfortunate.  Oh well.  I'm just grateful she doesn't scream and cry the entire time like Naomi used to do!  Sadly, I didn't get a single picture of our family at the pool.  Actually, I didn't take a single picture all day, which is a little depressing.  But I did enjoy my time with my family, which Jacob claims is more important than taking pictures of spending time with the family.... silly man!

I finally got my camera out the day after the 4th, but this looks like it could have been the 4th of July.  So we can pretend. :)

In the evening, we had our barbecue with LOTS of yummies!  Naomi was my little helper the day before, and we made some festive snacks (chocolate chip cookies with red & blue M&Ms, and white chocolate covered pretzel rods with red & blue sprinkles and M&Ms).  We snacked on the pretzel rods throughout the day on the 4th, and then after our barbecue, we made ice cream cookie sandwiches with our homemade cookies.  They were delicious!

Blurry phone pics!

Sorting the M&Ms

These were actually the ugliest ones we made, but it's the only picture I took.  Most of the others were a lot cuter!

The last few years for the 4th, the Romneys did their own little fireworks show at the house.  I've never been a big fan of fireworks at home... they kinda terrify me.  (To be honest, I'm even scared of sparklers... I don't think I've ever used one. ha!)  And last year, one of the fireworks accidentally got shot sideways, so instead of shooting up into the air, it shot RIGHT AT US.  It was slightly terrifying.  So after last year, I hate home fireworks even more.  Growing up, we always went to the fireworks show put on by our town, and I loved it.  It was usually my favorite part of the holiday!  So this year we all went to the fireworks show in Marshall!  It was a lot of fun, and the girls loved it, Naomi especially! 

Thanks to Kalie, there was one photo taken of us on the 4th!  Here we are, watching the fireworks show!