The Glorious 4th Hath Arrived and Past

My grandpa Winder wakes up every 4th of July and says, "The glorious 4th hath arrived at last" and concludes the day with "The glorious 4th hath arrived and past". I meant to post about our 4th a little while ago, but I'm just getting to it tonight; thus, the glorious 4th hath arrived and past.

I love the 4th of July! I love all the celebrations; I love the BBQs; I love the parades; and I love the fireworks! Some of these events I'm not sure exactly why I love them. I can't figure out what is so fun about sitting in a crowd of people wearing red, white, and blue and watching other people walk by, yet I relish it. On most days of the year I wouldn't touch a hot dog with a ten foot pole, but on the 4th it just feels right to eat a big dog. I'm not exactly sure why I love the celebrations, but I think it must be because I feel extremely patriotic. I love being an American! I was incensed when someone in church the day after the 4th insinuated that America is going to pot because of all this "change". Every year I feel so grateful to be an American. I remember the 4th of July on my mission where we played ultimate frisbee with my zone and we happened to have exactly half Americans and half non-Americans. Every time we scored we compared it to a battle from American history. It is one of my favorite memories of my mission.

This 4th was equally thrilling. We started the day with a beautiful run down Provo Canyon. We went back to my parents and had blueberry muffins, scrambled eggs, and orange juice. Then we went over and walked the parade route, but going the opposite way. This was ideal for watching both the parade and the people at the parade (I think the spectacle created by the people is more entertaining than the parade itself). Later in the day we went to my grandma's for a BBQ where I had my yearly hot dog. It was a fantastic day.

The fun continued the next day when we went to Brad's parents after church for another BBQ with his family. We celebrated again a little later in the week by taking Annie for her first swim ever. She was festive in her red, white, and blue swimsuit!

By the end of the day, Annie was super tired out by all the activities. One of the pictures below shows her sacked out on my lap with her arms up. Whenever she sleeps with her arms up it means she is really out. Brad humored me the day after the 4th and wore his blue suit with a red tie for our patriotic family picture. The other picture shows how swimming wore Annie out (she was asleep before we left our neighbor's property).