This was most certainly an exciting week for our little family starting off with Independence Day on Monday. That morning James was asked to be in the parade with the Wendy's float, so Brittany walked with Dean and Riley over to the park to watch from there. It went much better than she thought, with Dean being so little and wanting to run away in all the crowds. He did a pretty good job of holding her hand and looking at everything, even if he did beg the sweet older ladies in front of them for some caramel popcorn. After about an hour though the slide was too enticing, so he played on that until Dad came over and then we all went over to meet him, and he got to go with Dad the last little stretch of the parade too. He loved all the balloons flying up into the sky and the marching band and stereo music being blasted. It was a lot of fun.
(the Wendy's float)
(Bruce, James' boss, James and Dean)
(Riley was being so sweet and enjoying all the excitement too)
(this is Dean dancing to the music)
Then that evening we all went to Wendy's by the greenbelt in Idaho Falls and ate as a family and staked out our spot from last year. It was perfect. We had a few drops from the sky, but it cleared up just in time for the fireworks at around 10pm. We had a hard time keeping both babies entertained while trying to avoid the wind and sun in the early evening, but it was worth it in the end. The fireworks were great. Dean kept repeating us really loud saying "Beautiful! WOW!" and it was so cute. Riley slept through most of it, and didn't make a peep when she saw a few of the final ones, she was pretty exhausted from a long hot day. We all were! We were going to set off some of our own when we got home, but it was too late for that once we finally did because we were all so worn out. We set them off Tuesday night instead, and Dean was a bit more nervous about that! Our favorites are still the ground blooms. They're so neat! We kept a couple to set off when family comes over for James' graduation if we have time.
(trying to get all of us...didn't quite work...but it was fun!)
(James and Dean having some fun waiting for it to get dark)
Brittany's 25th birthday was on Friday and we celebrated by making a yellow cake with rainbow-chip frosting, and having chicken salads and ice-cream. James also let her get a few things to decorate for his grad party, and a couple cheap pairs of pants, since she has gotten rid of so many recently that don't fit anymore. She got a free haircut, too, because she donated her hair. It is so short again, but she loves it. It's a lot easier to maintain than before. She also had a few sweet texts, phone calls, and cards from loved ones, and lots of comments from everyone, so that really made her feel special. Brittany also got to work on and send off the announcements she designed for James' graduation. It was a really great week and week-end.
Next things on the list: graduation preparations, more packing, and cleaning. James is so excited and we're getting really anxious to get things done. James' mother is coming up for his graduation and we're really glad that she'll be able to be here to see him walk. We've already done a lot of honing down piles of things around the house and packing items we don't use very often. Now if we can get most everything else packed by the end of next week, we'll be able to deep clean, and focus on graduation until time to load the trailer and head to California. Maybe that's wishful thinking though with a toddler entering terrible two's and a two and a half month old who wants to be held all the time now? We'll shoot for that I guess and if we land somewhere in the middle that's better than not trying at all, right? Besides, we love a challenge!!
Love,
The James Anderson Family
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