4th of July Party

First off, can I say how weird it is to be having a second annual 4th of July party at our house? It is the weirdest feeling to know we have lived here that long but to not feel like we've been here that long. Crazy!

Anyway, I didn't get a whole lot of pictures of the sitting and eating since we all were hiding in the dark cool house. It was almost 100 outside and people didn't really feel like eating in the sun. Staying inside was great for visiting, playing some games, napping, and playing with dogs, so it all turned out alright.

I made this Jello because I'm trying to be more patriotic and what is more patriotic than ingesting the American flag? If I could have, we would have eaten a bald eagle too. :)

Aaron slaved over the grill to make us our hamburgers.

Yeah...that's a George Foreman he is grilling on. Seriously people, it was too hot to be standing next to burning coals waiting for them to get hot enough to cook on. Plus...I feel like this is more American.
My friend Michelle, who I found through my wonderful sister-in-law, brought her baby with her (which I guess is only natural when the baby is only just two months old). He was an angel most of the day but by the time I took this picture, he was totally ready for a nap.
I, seriously, cannot believe that a year ago the Harnish family was at my party without a thought in the world that their little one would be with us this year. It is so amazing how much can happen in a year. They even announced the pregnancy at my house at Thanksgiving! Time flies so fast.

I know that this next picture looks ridiculously like a family picture, "Look! We made a baby!" but Andy and I are just happy that we got to snatch a baby for awhile. I don't know how Andy and I ended up making the same face.
I was also super excited that I got to have Geoff come to my house! It was his first party at my place since he got back from his mission to Japan. I'm so happy to have him so close to me again. He is always tons of fun.

As the sun went down, we went looking for a place to set off our fireworks. One place that I had in mind was....ummm....on fire....when we got there. So we headed to the church parking lot since we figured that would be harder to set on fire.

Aaron was in charge of the fireworks. He was a great "behind the scenes" man at this party. I talk people to death at parties and he makes sure that it all runs smoothly. We are an awesome team.

This fireworks show reminded me of how...perfect...for each other my group of friends is. I'm actually surprised that we didn't hurt anybody. (Important Note: The baby at this point was on the way home...we would not have done these things in front of a child.)
Andy wanted to be Katy Perry so I lite him up...Looking back on this, it all seems like a very bad plan that only a drunk person would think of. But no harm, no foul. We all survived.
The game of chicken, to see who would get closest to the firework without freaking out and running away. It was pretty intense.
We all had so much fun sitting and watching the fireworks and maybe thinking about all the wars fought for our freedoms....maybe.

Once we were done with all of the box set fireworks, it was time to set off the aerials that were legal this year. Andy was a little nervous....you know, in case he got shot in the back while running away.
We lite sparklers for the grande finale and waved them around...it was quite a sight.

It was an awesome party and it ended on a pretty high note. I hope that next years party is as good as this one.

One thing that I do know, is that it will probably come a lot quicker than I'm expecting. Happy 4th of July everyone!