Our Independence Day

It was the first time that we had been in town for the 4th in a long time. And the first time since we have moved to Santa Clarita. We weren't exactly sure what we were going to do. People told us about parades and things going on, where there were some good fireworks shows, and whatnot.

We got up a little early, and I went on my morning run, before it started getting hot. I ran along the paseos behind our house, and funnily enough, that is where the 4th of July runs were going on. So I was there, running right along with all those 4th/running enthusiasts. They were all decked out in their flag gear. One guy had on knee high stars and stripes socks, and I decided that if I ever do a local run for the 4th of July, I'm gonna need those socks! Also ... little kids were passing me. Awesome.

After my run, we woke the girls up and scooted on down to see the parade. It's a pretty big deal in this town to go to the local parade. People camp overnight to get spots to watch the parade. Which seems a little ridiculous to me, now that I've seen the parade. My friend, and one of the women I visit teach, Siv Flick, saved us a spot with her family, which was really nice. And it was a fun parade, very long. Longer than our girls were up for. They were done after about 3/4 of the parade had gone by. But we did see some of our friends and visited, and it was fun.

When we got back, it was naptime. We fed the girls quickly and put them down for their naps. They slept for a really long time! About 3 hours. Once they were both awake, we high-tailed it out to Aunt Liz and Uncle Bob's for a family 4th Barbeque. David and Kira and their family was there, and Uncle Gary and Rosita came out, so it was quite a gathering. Brooke loved being with all the kids, and she and Ava and Aubrey just had such a great time playing altogether.

Daniel had this really brilliant idea of making little 4th of July crowns out of pipe cleaners (an idea from pinterest, no doubt). We picked up the pipe cleaners on our way out there and had a grand old time making and wearing them. They turned out pretty cute, and I think we have found ourselves a new 4th of July tradition!

I taught in Relief Society the next day. I'd been preparing my lesson all week long, and I think it came together quite nicely. I taught a chapter from Preach My Gospel, which is what we are working through as a Relief Society this year. My chapter was on the commandments, and I thought it was going to be a fairly difficult lesson to teach because we, most of us (or at least those who have been members forever), know what we are supposed to be doing. But I mainly focused on the blessing we receive when we keep certain commandments and also what the sisters like to do or think of as they strive to keep the commandments. And it ended up being a really fun lesson! Or, at least, I enjoyed it.