oh say can you see...

{disclaimer: this post may be extra long due to the fact that the week of the 4th could be my most favorite week of the year}

The wonderful weekend of the 4th began with a fabulous Howell Family Hoedown Reunion. On Thursday we arrived to a rainy but happy {mostly happy} camp. It decided to rain pretty much all night but the rain didn't stop the Howell's. We ate a fabulous dutch oven dinner, made smores, played with the chubby babies, and even had a hunt for gold
Friday in honor of Opa's birthday and our friends from China visiting we held a bbq that included country poetry and break dancing. Our friends for China got a little taste of America.

The 4th started out with a wonderful 5k run by me, Maximus(that is the name he registered himself under, as you can see by the picture), my mom and little brother(who took 11th overall and hasn't run a bit this summer).

after the race we continued with our typical 4th of july traditions....first the parade...

then off to cherry days.....followed by a nap.....then two bbq's{life couldn't get better}....

then to bountiful for the most amazing fireworks i have ever seen.....

and off to a 2 and 1/2 hour communte that should've been about 45 minutes.....

i love the feel of the 4th of july...i love the feel of a community coming together to celebrate our country....i love seeing old friends......i love talking with family.....i love eating the awesome watermelon and cherries and hamburgers......its the epitome of summer.....