Golden Shower Party - 4th of July

This is our fourth, 4th of July as a married couple!  And our 5th knowing each other.  True story, 4 years ago, Aaron and I went to sleep early the 4th of July so that we could take Andy to the hospital to have his wrist operated on, at 5am, since he broke it the week before.  Aaron fainted while they were putting Andy's IV in...it was pretty funny but he got a bloody nose and the nurse had asked BEFORE she started if any of us were going to faint and we said no.

ANYWAY, this is our 3rd Annual party (since the first one, we were either in California or didn't have friends in the area in Utah).  

We called it the "Golden Shower Party" because there is a firework that always gives us a laugh when we read its name...which is "Golden Shower".  DO NOT GOOGLE THE MEANING OF GOLDEN SHOWER.

For our anniversary, Aaron got me some lawn games since I've been dying to have more fun things to do outside in the summer time with Aaron and friends.

Ladderball!!!

Clarise was pretty awesome at this game.  That blue ball that is about to totally score her 3 points was thrown from her expert hands.

Oh wait....it missed.  Andy's turn!

The next round, she ended with this group of blue balls.

Look at that form!

Andy's balls got tangled together.  He was constantly having this problem....poor Andy.

Geoff stares in SHOCK that Andy got some points.

WOW ANDY!  Two in a row!!

Meanwhile, Leo was kept distracted so that he didn't wonder into the field.

True story:  Our first 4th of July party, the Harnish's had no plans of starting their family.  The next 4th of July they had a tiny almost 2 month old Leo.  This year, he is walking around and exploring my backyard.

Sticking Shuttlecocks in his mouth.  They grow up so fast.  Even at my Songkran party in April, he wasn't walking around.  Next years Songkran party, he is going to be running around and almost 2 years old.

Michelle and I looking really windswept.

Okay, back to ladderball.

This time, I was joining in the fun and Aaron offered to take pictures of me!  What a doll.

After ladderball, it was time for S'mores!!  Yeah for S'mores!

Andy was mad because I took a picture of him eating.  He kind of threw a fit.

Talking to real family while there was a bit of a lull in the day.

Probably the most unflattering photo of Clarise ever.

Roasting a Marshmallow!

Is Leo going to jump in the fire pit?  No.  He is obsessed with the box of Graham crackers.  He was a HUGE fan.  Apparently he had never had them before but after one, is was obsessed.

While we waited for it to get dark outside, Andy, Clarise, and Geoff watched Wipe Out.

It was the Armed Services episode...so....very patriotic.

BADMINTON!!

This was another game that Aaron bought me for our anniversary.  I had a lot of fun beating him into the ground. He was REALLY bad.  Geoff came in to help him and I still ended up winning.

I was no Asian kid at my high school but I definitely had more skills than Aaron.  It will be fun teaching him to play so that the game is a little more exciting instead of sad.

At 9:30pm it finally started getting dark enough to head over to the church building.  We always go to the church building because it has a huge parking lot and we know that we won't light anything on fire.  And we always make sure to clean up really well because we don't want them to ever have a reason to ban us from going there.

We met up with the Brightons there for fireworks.  They had been too busy to come to the food portion but they made it to the fireworks.

Two Golden Showers in the box this year!!

Put down the camera to light a firework.

Another fun passage of time.  Geoff wasn't at the first 4th of July party because he was on a mission.  Last year he came to the party and Clarise and him had just started daring again.  And this year, they are a married couple!! 6 months strong!!

Clarise, Geoff, Andy, and Aaron enjoying a Golden Shower!  The Golden Shower makes everyone so happy!

Look at that adorable couples team work!

We lit the other Golden Shower and it was really....anti-climatic.  We've never had such a weak Golden Shower.

We like to call this move the "Katy Perry".  Andy did it last year and this year, Clarise and I were brave enough to give it a try.

After awhile, she put it down and ran.

Andy doing the "Katy Perry" again this year.  Geoff is in the back enjoying the view.

Andy calls this "The Fart".

This is me doing the "Katy Perry".

Jeremy got up and joined the firework dancing.

All in all, it was a pretty successful 3rd Annual 4th of July Party.  Tons of fun.  Tons of outdoor activities.  And tons of FUN with people that I love!