Fourth of July Main Event

After another amazing BBQ from Chef Steve, we enjoyed conversation as nightfall came. Yeah- it was time to start the rest of the festivities! One would think this picture was staged but it really wasn't. This is the beginning of the light show- bottle rockets lit by Tayler. Even Noelle got in on the action. Thanks, Tayler!
Go Sissy Go!

Ben decided that he needed to get lots of firecrackers. Steve is lighting the first sleeve with a second one tucked under his arm.

Tayler has another...

And Ben is ready to ignite a double sleeve. On and on and on they lit them until they were finally all gone. But not before one of them shot over and landed in my lap putting a tiny hole in my dress. Unfortunately, my nylon slip underneath started burning and I ended up with a 4 inch U-shaped burn on my thigh. Ugh!

The wind was blowing quite hard and the lighters kept going out. Steve had the great idea of using a torch to light the fireworks. Explosives, windy conditions, torches- yeah that was a great combination! Hi sissy- how's that drink? Time for a refill yet?

Now everyone thought that because my glass was taller, it held more but that is not the case. I just chose to use the plastic glass since that was smarter for clumsy me. The last thing I wanted was while running from a renegade firework I'd knock over my glass and break it. That's all, very simple actually. Now drink up! This is our third Independence celebration with Steve, Noelle and Tayler and we have so much fun. This year was no exception!

Tayler and Ben prepared the ignition of a double burst. It was so windy they brought in help...

it took three of them to get the combined fuses lit.

Oh no- run for your lives!!!!!!!

Pictures never do fireworks justice but these are two of the incredible bursts of explosions brought about with our excursion to purchase "reservation fireworks". What fun! And the minor casualties were easily buffed out by a professional trained to fix those nasty burns across the hood of Ben's car!

Thanks to our service men and women who protect us every day but especially on this the anniversary of the greatest nation in the world.

Fourth of July Prelude

We've decided to go on a grand adventure in search of the elusive "reservation fireworks." Armed with nothing more than an exit number, we set out on the highway! We'd driven about 40 minutes from home when we past this- a giant fireworks stand at the same exit we take to go to my sister's house. But alas, we must move on... it is not the one! We are driving and driving and come to these statues again. It seems to me I have written about this before but they just fascinate me. They are located in Toledo, Washington and they are called the Gospodor Monument Park.


Finally we are at our exit and I think we went across some time warp as well. I don't know the name of the little town we are in but this is our first stop. They had beautiful Rainier cherries that tasted heavenly. Wait a minute! Who is sponsoring this car wash?

ROLLER DERBY GIRLS!!

We're here, we're here! Two hours later, we finally found our prize. But this is not at all as we expected. Everyone was nice. There were no barkers yelling at you to come this way or that. There were just rows of stands grouped together in little "villages". It was rather interesting! Ben finally choose a stand and sauntered up to the bar! "I'll take one of those and two of these." We walked away with a very nice selection of fireworks to bring to Noelle and Steve's. *Disclaimer- of course, as you shall see later, all of the fireworks bought in Washington were carefully and safely enjoyed in Washington*

After a stop to get a snack and drinks, we were back on the road heading approximately 90 miles back to Vancouver. Of course, drinks require a pit stop! Hurry and take the picture- it's chilly out here!

I took lots of bridge pictures for Ben. I think he had the perfect picture in his head so he kept saying "take this one and that one". I'm pretty sure that I didn't have the right picture in my head but I kept trying! I liked this one- over the Cowlitz River. Almost there!

Ashley's Shower

You might say to yourself "why would I want to look at a bunch of pictures of someone opening presents?" And I would say to you, "am I that predictable?" Never fear! While these pictures were taken at Ashley's shower, this post is more than that! This is the bride! She and Brady will be married on August 21st just a few weeks away.

This is her older sister, Vanna (I mean Allisa!) Allisa was a good sport and helped me put up all the street signs. When she asked if we could have the shower at our house, I didn't hesitate. But then I realized we would only have been moved in for about 3 weeks. What a great motivator to get all the boxes emptied (or at least shoved into closets, lol!) Ben and I worked like crazy but we got it all done! Ashley didn't want a cake so she and Allisa made and decorated chocolate covered strawberries. They were so yummy! This was one of three full plates. They were busy little decorators. I'm not going to show you a lot of guest shots either (mostly because I had the camera on the wrong setting and they aren't perfect). This is one of my favorite pictures- my niece Danielle and my sissy Noelle- love you both!

The obligatory present opening picture. I chose this one because she got these beautiful Pink Martini glasses (which reminds me...thank you darling for the Pink Martini at the Zoo tickets. I can't wait to see them again!)

Hello ladies- only one party game and it was very fun. Allisa put this "matching game"together and we had a fun time playing! Everyone was a winner!

My beautiful daughters!

Love this picture!

Some of the bridal party. Can't wait to see all of you together at the wedding.

Ben put together a slide show of Brady and Ashley pictures. It was so cool! This is one of my favorites of the two of them in Europe. So sweet! See, this wasn't so bad was it? In fact it was fun, huh? On to the next post...