July Fourth - Four Year Old Beau

Last week we celebrated the Fourth of July and Beau's fourth birthday...and we were lucky enough to do so with grandparents. We have lived in New Mexico for seven years now and I cannot imagine enjoying Independence day in a place without fireworks. I know many places in NM banned fireworks this year because of fire danger, but luckily the folks in Hidalgo county realize that there's nothin' much to burn down there (at least nothing worth cancelling their annual show)...so we decided to head down to Lordsburg for the Fourth, celebrate Beau's birthday in Sierra Vista, and then enjoy church in Safford where Dave and Stacy Hartman blessed their third baby girl.
My mom was seriously desperate to get my dad to relax and enjoy the holiday, so she took him to Lordsburg to enjoy the festivities with us. We also got to enjoy the company of Rus's sister Emilee and her husband Chip. The food was good and the fireworks were great, but the company was the real treat. (Or maybe Louise's caramel popcorn was the real treat...mmm). Emilee is a recent graduate of cosmetology school and she applied her expertise (and lots of hair product) to my mom's hair. My mom is not one to be afraid of schooling the Faux.

Rus and his dad caught wind of my dad wanting to buy a gun, so they loaded up the armory and took him shooting so he could get a feel for what kind of gun he wanted. My dad has never owned a gun, probably because there are people in this world like Rus's dad, who have owned or still own every good piece ever made. Luckily they had nothing to say to each other at this point because it's hard enough for two semi-deaf people to have a conversation...throw in sound protection and you'd better know how to read lips...

Lucky you...you get a true glimpse into my corny personality...How do you throw skeet?

We had planned to take the kids swimming at the city pool but it was surprisingly overcast all day and cooler than normal. We set up a slip-n-slide instead.

I've already shown you how Marianne and her dad share a special gene that allows them to suffocate themselves with their upper lips...turns out Emilee and Roger share that trait...too bad Marianne wasn't feeling like joining in the fun. I think she was too busy wondering why all those people looked so goofy.

 We headed to the fireworks show at dusk and parked on a dirt lot with a front row seats for the show and the newly acquired Lordsburg Fire Department ladder truck. Of course Rus's dad knew the man in charge of the fire truck, so he let us and our kids over to get a peek inside.

The kids got restless for fireworks so Rus and his dad and my dad set off a few of their own. I was worried that Marianne would hate the noise but she didn't - it startled her but then she seemed to love the lights and colors.
Here's a picture I love of Bekah enjoying her sparkler.

 Before we left on Thursday, Nana took time to help Jacob make a blanket with an octopus on it...

 And blanket-capes for Bekah's latest fixation - her little cat and elephant stuffed animals. Nana is so awesome!

Fastforward to Friday - Beau's birthday. He decided to go see a movie at the theater instead of going swimming, so we saw Madagascar 3. He also wanted a transformer cake and so I decided to make pound cakes from a mix and then cut the finished loaves into cubes so he could build his own. (If you're thinking I'm lazy, you're right...) It would have worked out perfectly, too, if I had remembered to add the eggs. Ugg. He didn't seem to mind too much though.

For his birthday he got some money from Nana that he bought four little transformer toys with, an Imaginext dinosaur from Cutesy, and a Trio set and Blocko set from Rus and I. I think he made out like a bandit.

Another great thing about being four is that Beau can finally be done wearing his braces at night! We've really been slacking the last six months just making him wear them every other night (or every other other night), so to be totally done is a very happy thing! Here he is on the last night he had to wear them...doesn't he look happy!

On Saturday we decided to take a hike up in Ramsey Canyon. After lots of whining from my kids I finally turned to my dad for reassurance and said, "we all whined a ton when we were little and we turned out okay, right?" He just chuckled. I don't know what that means. We didn't whine? Unlikely. We didn't turn out okay? Hmm...Here are some pics from the hike:
I think Rus was saying, "Take it quick, I can't suck in my gut much longer."

And here is an attempt to get a picture of the crazy people that rule my life. They're loud and crazy and dramatic...and all mine. Forever.

The end.
P.S. We had a great time at the baby blessing but unfortunately didn't take any pictures. But it was great to visit and eat. And Marianne had a crush on Rus's buddy Clint during church. I kid you not, that child leaped onto Clint's lap at least a half a dozen times, a totally unnatural thing for her to do to anyone but me and Rus. It was awesome.