Fourth of July Memories

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Happy 4th of July everyone! Since Andrew has to work this 4th, we got to reminiscing about past 4th of Julys, and why we love this holiday. Here is what comes to mind when I think of the 4th of July...

1. Going to Grandma's House (Richfield). Before my family moved to Richfield, back when I was a kid and we lived in Salt Lake, we would spend a lot of 4ths at my Grandma Hansen's house. The best part of going to Grandma's house was seeing my uncles, Kellon & Kevin. They are only a few years older than me, so they were like cousins to my brother Carson, and I. Everytime we were almost to Richfield, I would get butterflies in my stomach because I was so excited to see Kellon & Kevin, I could hardly contain myself. Kellon & Kevin were ALWAYS fun. We were never bored as long as we were around them.

2. Marching bands. Everytime I hear a marching band, I think of the 4th of July. Some years when we would stay at my Grandma's house, Me, Carson, Kellon & Kevin, would sleep in the front room or outside on the trampoline. On the morning of the 4th of July, we would wake up to Richfield High School's marching band marching down 4th west (the street my grandma lived on), blaring their instruments as loud as possible. It was always at 6:00 AM and never a minute later. Groggy as I was from no sleep, I was always a little excited to hear the band greet us, saying "wake up, it's the 4th of July!"

3. The smell of Fireworks. I love the smell of fireworks. We would always light our own fireworks on my Grandma's driveway. We would all sit on lawn chairs and watch them. I remember when the flashy ones were lit, we would get up and dance weird dances to watch how eachother looked with the weird light flashing on us.

4. The Parade. In Richfield, and to my family, the parade is a big deal. We would ALWAYS go to the parade. We would find a spot on main street, lay down our blanket and sit in the hot sun. My Grandpa, and his brothers own a bunch of John Deere tractors, and every year they show them off in the parade. My Mom and Brother now also drive a tractor in the parade. My Grandpa made a little train that he pulls behind the tractor. It has like 8 seperate cars on it that usually my cousins sit in during the parade. My Grandpa also built a "Pent-a-wheel" It a big round thing that you strap two people into and push them around and around. One year, I rode on that with a friend while it was being pulled behind a tractor in the parade! FUN! I love parades, and the candy they throw out, and all the cool floats to see. Every 4th, no matter where I live, I will make sure we go to a parade!

5. The City Park. After the parade, the fun continues at the City park in Richfield. There is food, games, and rides. My Grandpa does train and pent-a-wheel rides for real cheap. All the kids in town will be waiting in one of these lines. Snocones. Hot dogs. fish ponds. Relay races. Talent shows. Crowds and crowds of people.

6. Red, White & Blue. Every year, probably since I was able to dress myself, I made sure that I was properly attired in either red, white or blue. If I was really good, I could manage to work in all 3 colors. I think it is very important that these colors are worn. It is so lame to see someone in an orange shirt on this day. Is it so hard to be festive? No, your day will not be the same if you are not wearing one of these colors. It is extra fun to go to Old Navy and getting matching flag shirts for the whole family. I will ALWAYS make sure my husband and kids are decked out in these colors on the 4th of July.

7. The BIG Fireworks. Once again, this memory is the best in Richfield. Although I have watched fireworks other places. I use to always look forward to the end of the day and the heat, when dusk would come and the mosquitos started biting. This meant it was time to head down to the lions park with our huge red blanket. We would then have to look for a spot to sit, Everyone comes here to watch the fireworks . We would scout out our piece of grass, and go sit and wait for it to get all the way dark. As time would pass, we would grow more anxious to see that first flash of light and the thunderous boom. These fireworks would usually last awhile. My brothers, Kellon, Kevin, and I would like to guess which color each firework would be before it went off. Red. Green. Purple. Blue. Orange. The grand finale was always something to look forward to, the sky would be so bright with tons and tons of fireworks going off at once. Sometimes they would have fireworks that would spell out things like "Happy 4th of July". The fireworks were so close to us, that sometimes ashes would fall on our heads.

8. Punchbags. Ok, these I think are only a Richfield-ism. No one else I talk to has ever heard of these. They are just little bags of punch. You can buy them at the Ideal Dairy in Richfield. You can buy huge boxes of em, and that's what my Grandparents would usually do. They would freeze them, because they are a lot better that way. You are supposed to poke a little straw in it and drink it, but we would always bite into it and drink it that way. There were always tons and tons of them and we'd drink them all day.

9. This is my last one, even though I could go on and on about the 4th. The Mountains. After we did the parade, and our thing at the park, my Dad always insisted that we get away from it all. Somewhere quiet, cooler, and clear of people. Somewhere out of the heat and noise. I always liked to be around the crowds on the 4th, I felt like that's where everything was going on, and we were just gonna miss it all if we left. But now, that I am away from Richfield, Utah, my home, I miss the mountains and the simplicity of it. It really was peaceful to take a drive up the canyon and have a picnic at a little lake we found along the way. It was nice to feel the cooler summer air and be out and away from people being so busy and loud. I have never missed or appreciated a 4th of July in Richfield doing the "same old thing" every year, as I do now. (Sniff, Sniff)

Okay, so there are my thoughts on the 4th of July. It's kind of fun to think back to the good old days. When Andrew gets home, I will make him write his too....

Alecia wants me to put in some of my 4th of July memories. So a little awkward but...... Anyway I remember when I was a kid we usually went to the Hurricane parade in the morning and the usually games and activites afterward at the park. Sometimes we might go out in the hills, I also remember some water fights and just playing around at home. Then at night we would go see city fireworks. Usually in Hurricane, sometimes St. George. I remember being terrified at first when the big fireworks in the sky would crack. What was most fun to me is lighting our own fireworks either at home or at my grandparnets house. One of my favorites was the little tanks. We used to point the tanks at each other and have a tank war, and with me being the youngest it was always an exciting privlidge to be able to light one of the fountains or other fireworks. We would always save the biggest fountain for last. At my grandparents my uncle Kory usually had some m80's or bottlerockets that he would have fun with, while a lot of us cousins were throwing snaps at each other. Just like every other kid I always remember lighting the handheld sparklers. I can remember what it looked like to have 7 kids running around with sparklers a lot of the time in both hands.