The One on the 4th of July

I love our country!  I'm so grateful to have been born in America, with its freedoms and privileges.  It is by no means perfect but I prefer it over any other option on earth.  I'm grateful for my ancestors who sacrificed to get here and later fought to keep our country free.

I also love our patriotic holiday.  I love red, white and blue, and fireworks and barbecues and Star Spangled Banners.  The 4th of July usually means I also get to be with my family but this has not been the case for the past 2 years now.  I'm starting to see a trend :(

This year Justin and I had a lazy summer Fourth.  Lazy on the day of; we went camping the weekend before- post to come.  We slept in, caught a Green Lantern matinee (pretty entertaining- it's not Batman but still very good) and had a barbecue with Justin's dad and David Harris.  So much good food!  That was probably one of our best grillin' outs ever :)

Justin and his Padre.

That's a lot of pork.  And super good grilled corn!

The GrillMaster.  Or Master in Training- we're
still working on it :)

Afterward we were debating which park to go watch fireworks at.  There is one within walking distance of our apartment but David heard that the show at the next closest park was going to be spectacular.  So he rode with some friends and Justin, his dad and I hopped on our bikes and rode about a mile to the park.  We found a spot pretty close to the front and got ready for some good ol' American entertainment.  Unfortunately whoever told David that was going to be the best show was wrong.  So very wrong.  It didn't last very long, they didn't turn the park lights off and 2 girls in front of us decided to get in a fight.  Which prompted everyone else to stand up and watch them and block everybody else's view of the fireworks!  Thank goodness there were plenty of police officers out in force so the fight broke up pretty quickly.  I also think it was genius that we rode our bikes because we were able to get out ahead of all the pedestrians who were blocking car traffic.  We made it home so fast that we were able to catch the end of the Bees baseball game firework show which had a much better finale.

Happy (slightly belated) Fourth of July!!  Go America!!

The One Where March is Madness!!!

Whew!!  What a crazy month!!  March for us was saying goodbye to Grandma and one of the shortest road trips ever, welcoming a new baby to the family (it's about time I posted so I could mention Anistyn's birth.  Congratulations Lisa and Travis!!), my 27th birthday, and the return of UA basketball to the NCAA tournament (and sadly their elimination).

The beginning of the month was a little sad obviously with the passing of Dad's mom.  But I was glad for the chance to go back home to visit again, if only for a few days.  I think Mom said it best when we were dressing Grandma, "She wasn't a typical Grandma, but she was a good Grandma."  It's always interesting to me to hear the stories from people's childhoods when I've only known them as adults.  Who knew Grandma was so ornery?!  What a funny lady!  Love you Grandma!!

With every ending there is a new beginning and I'm excited for Lisa and Travis to welcome their first baby girl.  Can't wait to get to meet her in person (and take some pictures)!  She came close to sharing my birthday but I'll always have the record as the only double digit newborn (and I don't wish breaking that record on anyone!!).  Still March is a great month to be born :)  And where did her dark hair come from?!  So sweet!

My birthday was really fun this year!  Justin surprised me at lunch with a vase of flowers- red and blue for UofA, how sweet!  And they're still alive!  We had some friends (Brock and Carrie) over for dinner to finish off the carne asada Steve sent home with us.  Best fajitas ever!!  I kinda regretted sharing when we finished off the meat but it was sooo good!  And we played Bang (which Mom and Dad gave Justin for his birthday).  That's our current favorite game.  We're using it to create other Bang addicts.  Brock and Carrie have already invited us back over to their house for dinner, as long as we took Bang.  So funny!!  We just taught Paul, Marsha, and Maddy how to play this past Sunday too.  We liked it so much we didn't even play Carcassonne!  Justin gave me my own copy of Carcassonne and a new backpack for backpacking.  That will be sooo nice this summer!!  Last year I just used my school backpack- definitely not made for hiking trips!

 

And speaking of camping, we finally used up our last wedding gift card and bought a grill at REI.  We've had our eye on this grill for a while and found a good deal so we got it.  I think we'll have the inaugural grilling tonight when we feed the missionaries :)  If it stops raining!

I love that it rolls- so easy!! 

  

I loved all my presents but the best one came late when Arizona beat Duke!!  Handedly!!  What a great game!!  I don't think anybody could have beat them that day, they were playing so well.  Too bad it wasn't the championship :(  The good thing about sports is there's always next year right?  Looks like we're in for another good 20+ years of tourney appearances (and hopefully wins) with Sean Miller.  Go Cats!!!

 Bear Down Arizona, Bear Down Red & Blue!  Bear Down Arizona, Hit 'Em Hard Let 'Em Know Who's Who!!  Bear Down Arizona, Bear Down Red & Blue!  Go, Go, Wildcats Go!!  Arizona Bear Down!!!!!