MJ and other Miscellaneous Events

Finishing up with July . . .

After our great holiday weekend, I was sad to see Michael go back to Denver. Hopefully, he won't take so long to come back next time.







I stayed busy the rest of week finishing up the clothing drive for YLD. Here we are with a trunkload of clothes that went to the Junior League's Women Helping Women Professional Clothing Closet.

Happy Birthday America, Part I

The Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday. I love hot summer days spent with your family and friends. I love watching and competing in parades. I love the barbequeing and snow cones. I love running into everyone you know at the fireworks display and setting off your own fireworks with your family afterwards. I just love it.

The stars aligned this year for me to introduce Rod to both of my favorite Fourth of July memories in one long weekend. To kick things off, we went to Idaho Falls for "the best fireworks this side of the Mississippi." Oh, and to make it all so much more perfect, my little (he's a foot taller than me) brother, Michael, came in from Denver. My grandparents were so surprised when he walked in the door!

We skipped the parade on Saturday morning because it was too hot for Grandma and Grandpa. Instead, we went out to breakfast at Grandpa's favorite greasy spoon, the North Hiway Cafe.



After an, um . . . healthy . . . breakfast, we decided to go for a drive to check out the old Teton Dam. This was really neat for Rod, who deals with water law every day. It was fun to hear all of my grandparents' stories about where they were "when the dam broke."





Grandpa was enjoying driving so much that he decided to take the long way home through Swan Valley. We, of course, stopped for square ice cream, another favorite summer memory.

Back in IF, we stopped at Ryan and Carma's for a quick hello. We were so excited that all of the our cousins were there, including our cousin Adam's children who I have never met before. Pretty cute, huh?









Before we knew it, it was time to head to the river. Jayde and Ryan joined us. In IF, the entire community gathers around the Snake River to watch the fireworks. Melaleuca pays for them, and they go ALL out. The fireworks are actually choreographed to patriotic music placed on KLCE (Classy) 97. It has been referred to as the best fireworks "this side of the Mississippi." We ran into so many people that we knew and ended up sitting between my Aunt Charlene and cousin Melissa and one of my best friends from high school, Alicia, and her boyfriend and children.











The show lived up to expectations. It was beautiful. I loved cuddling up to Rod on the bank of a river that I have sat on so many nights before and making this new memory with him.

Happy Birthday America: Part II

For Rod's next Idaho Fourth of July experience, we headed to Leadore, population 90. As a kid, my family would come to Leadore for the 4th to celebrate my Aunt Julie's birthday. Her middle name is literally "independance." I loved Leadore 4th of July's because anyone who wanted to be in the parade can, because Julie's birthday cake always had sparklers instead of candles, because Leadore sometimes lit dynamite instead of fireworks (depending on the budget that year), because the fireworks would usually result in a brush fire and all the kids got to help put it out, and because our family would all gather at the cabin after the fireworks to let off our own fireworks and roast/burn marshmallows.

It was nice to see that not too much has changed. After the Fireman's Breakfast, we (and the rest of the town) went to the parade.





My uncle's car after the demolition derby.

The Leadore democrats' (who knew?) poorly planned float. They were shoveling horseshit our the back.

My nephew on his motorcycle.

Tiny chilling at the cabin.

After the parade, my dad and adorable cousin, Ashley, drove all of us up to see the family ranch, which consists of a lot of really beautiful land, an abandoned cabin, and a handful of some really cool classic cars and trucks. The drive involves a few river crossings, locked gates, and other obstacles.

That did not stop the census, though.



While we were away, Amanda fixed us all a good Fourth of July BBQ. Yummy!







My Grandma's old store.

What's left of the old bank.








We got the family fireworks started early.

Ashley with Lupa.







The Leadore fireworks--actual fireworks this year--were relatively uneventful. No dynamite, no brush fires.

Then, time for more family fireworks.

And, of course, Julie's birthday cake, sparklers and all.