Fourth of July 2008

Jerry proving that he made it to the top!

No water park could be this fun!

The Texas Gang finally pulled in Saturday afternoon in the Good Times Van. It's a long drive and they are always very ready to stop.

The Springville Kid and mom, the Heber Kids and mom along with THE favorite aunt and Lucy arrived about the same time. When Cheryl comes home everyone else that can wants to come too so that means a house full. All of the girls and their families , twenty two in all were here for all or some of the week. Steve is in Pennsylvania working , Michael and Carlie and the Zach Attack are in Texas studying for the bar so they couldn't come. The house was full, the trailer in use and some of the kids slept in a tent on the back lawn. Cheryl came with a plan and she kept us all moving. She was going to have a Good Time!

Church on Sunday was a little tricky since we had to move people out of their regular spots...but everything and everyone was good including the ham dinner after.

Monday morning...we all loaded up for fishing. We had called the ranger station to see if we could get all the way around the loop and they said yes, but to expect snow drifts...the only problem we could see was the dust! Everything was really dry. We settled at Kent's to fish about 11: 00 A.M. Gramps had the poles ready and with just a little putting on bait, the derby was on. The final total was forgotten, but everyone caught at least one and some more than that. Later that evening, The Texas boys fried up those babies on the grill and pretended to eat them. In reality, they did eat some, and we put the rest out for the cats.

Cheryl had tickets for the Timp hike for Tuesday afternnoon, so we loaded up and drove to Springville, first to see Sara's new home and then on to meet The Cannon kids and their mom at the cave. Gramps tended Reese, or just held her until she cried herself to sleep and Grandma drove Easton back to Sara's so the moms could enjoy the cave. The Old People seemed to have made the wise decision after hearing how hard the hike was.

High Country Rafting is the place to be on a hot summer afternoon, especially if you know the owners! The Old People again tended the babies and Simba while the rest of the fam rafted the Provo. Some got a little wet, but everyone made it out alive. There seems to be no rest for this family, Cheryl's agenda called for us to be at The Olympic Park after lunch, so we hurried up to Carrie's and then on to Park City. Gramps opted to stay and rest and relax, which in hind sight was probably for the best. In my aged opinon, everything at the park is for the young or the stupid and I will not elaborate. Cheryl kept telling everyone that this was a chance in a lifetime.

We had dinner in Park City, took Gramps home a milk shake and we all were happy.

Shopping was on for Thursday. Since retirees have a limited budget, just the girls went shopping. Jerry and Sean went golfing, The Old People took the three little boys and Daniel home. Everyone finally showed up later to get ready for the Fourth.

The Fourth of July never changes in Delta. No matter what the theme of the parade, we always have the Miss Liberty Float, Miss Hinckley float , the county commissioners, the old veterans,

Deb's library float (this year she was a vampire!) the high school band with Tess in front on the tambourine, and the derby cars. For the last few years, we have had a jet fly over, which has been fun. The weather cooperated this year with a few clouds to cool things off, so we didn't need so much sun screen. Curt was the man this year. He went over to Quality and bought a cooler and filled it with drinks on ice. We had great seats, thanks to Gramps. He went over as soon as we got home on Thursday and staked our claim in from of the old Rowlette Floral building. No cars were allowed on main this year and it made it much better. Best 4th of July ever! We skipped the park as usual and stayed home and played in the water and rested until the fireworks. We were in our usual place on the hospital hill, hoping the water would come on.

Saturday, everyone cleaned up the house and yard. Even the little boys helped after a little bribery. We had lots of good food, everyone helped with the chores, the washer didn't break, the kitchen sink didn't plug up or any of the toilets! (just Sara's, but she fixed it herself). We had one flat tire, three dead batteries, no stitches or visits to the ER, just a few tears, lots of laughs, took loads of pictures, ate cookies, popsicles, drank too much soda pop, collected about 5 lbs of candy from the parade, and made terrific memories!

One by one the cars pulled out, lots of waving...some tears... Kendall and Grams! All in all it turned out to be a week to remember. Oh and by the way, Carrie still rules the arm wrestling!