4th of July celebrations

We started the holiday weekend with the ward pancake breakfast on Saturday morning. 8 am came bright and early but we headed down to join our neighbors and ward members for a nice warm meal. The kids rode their bikes down so that they could be part of the bike parade.

Here's Olivia with her good friend, Anna.

Here's the crowd spread out over the church parking lot with the sun rising to the East.

This is what I love to see... MEN cooking the meal!  After our breakfast, we went home and did a little yard work, then took off for Fat Cats in Provo. We met some of Jared's rugby friends for a day of bowling and lunch.

The kids all got along so well- it was great! They played pool, air hockey, and a game of bowling before digging into chips, salsa, and quesadillas from Costa Azul. I had Raspberry Chipotle Chicken Tacos and they were so delicious.

Here's Jared with his friends, Glen and Scottie.

Later that evening, we had a neighborhood BBQ that was a lot of fun.  Jared wore his shirt that says, "I'd rather be Down Under"!!! All the guys got a tough guy headband a la Karate Kid to wear. They had to choose an alter ego and Jared chose Steve Irwin. Some of the other names were Sawyer, Team Jacob, The Rock, and Bob Smith (who used his own name). When asked he said, "That's the toughest guy I could think of." I liked that answer.

We all brought some food to grill, desserts and salads to share, etc. The evening was actually almost cool so it was very enjoyable. Everyone chatted on the lawns while kids ran around and played. Olivia held her Sunday School teacher's baby all night!

Once the eating was done, the real party started... the testosterone games began! The organizers of this event had planned some challenges for the men. It all started with old fashioned arm wrestling. All the men got paired up, eliminated, and finally the last two, Jason and Bob, battled it out. Bob Smith was the winner (the one in red).

The next demonstration of manly-manliness was a sprint down the street. The guys all lined up about 50 yards away and sprinted towards the crowd. Since they all had flip-flops on, a few of them ran barefoot, including Jared. He ripped it up... literally. He won the race, but he also lost a chunk of skin off his big toe. I guess that's what a guy will do to win!

After that invigorating run, the guys were rewarded with some sweet treats- marshmallows. They stuffed as many as they could into their mouths. Let me tell you, it was so sexy! Ha. I think the winner, Dave (on right in white shirt) got 12 jumbo marshmallows in his mouth. Pretty impressive.

Finally, the guys battled it out in the Tug O'War. They were divided into two teams by streets. It was pretty amusing to watch. They competed a few different times, switching sides so it was fair. I think the best of 3 won. Next was supposed to be Shot Put but due to safety reasons (lots of kids running around) they skipped it. I think they guys were just exhausted by that point. I thought they were really good sports to go along with this whole thing!

So we moved on to the awards- small cans with Shrek toys glued on top, all spray painted in gold. From left to right, Shea accepted his team's award for Tug O'War, Jared won the sprint, Dave won the marshmallow contest, Bob won arm wrestling, and Rick won bean bag toss (I guess). I could be mixing two of those, but whatever. 

We got out the sparklers as the light faded and the kids gathered around to watch the fireworks. It was a pretty good show. We all had a great time.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!