4th of July - Then and Now

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!!

As I was sitting here rethinking about everything that happened today, I couldn't help thinking about everything that happened last year on the same day. So todays post is going to be how much things have changed in Jake and I's life.

Last year we woke up and went to a breakfast for our ward. Since we had only lived there a month and gone to church about 3 times we didn't know anyone and thought it was a good chance to meet some new people. I'm glad we went because I met one of my closest friends at that breakfast, Jamie. 

We had just bought Eve as well so she was this adorable little black puppy. She got most of the attention all day long. 

After breakfast we took the metro down to the capitol and watched the parade on Pennsylvania Avenue. If there is one thing I love it's the 4th of July in D.C. It was amazing seeing how much patriotism was there. 

This year was completely different. Jake has been deployed for almost 2 months now. I miss him so much. It makes today so hard because it is about being proud to be an American and celebrating our freedoms. This is also Jakes favorite holiday aside from Christmas. He loves everything about today and that is one thing that makes me love him is how proud he is to be an American. 

So, as Jake sits in a sand storm in a desert, I am home in Utah. Today I woke up around 8:00 and got ready for the Tooele parade. I usually go to Grantsville because I claim them more than Tooele, but my niece was in the parade and would have been heart broken if I didn't go. Whitney (my sis in law) and I went up together and had to park 10 blocks away from where the rest of the family was. It might have been 9:00 in the morning but holy frick is it hot in this state right now. We finally got to my parents right before Sophia showed up on her float and when she saw us, of course she threw candy with her little arm, and of course she hit someone in the head. Ha ha. 

The parade was fun! I even got a picture with the famdamnly! Well, my mom and dad. :D

Wow, a lot hasn't changed in my appearance other than my hair is a lot darker. 

Last year after the parade Jake and I went back to the house on base where we watched Independence Day that is about aliens attacking the country! Such a good patriotic movie, but hey we both enjoyed it a lot! I was also cooking dinner this whole time of a veggies plate, rolls, steak, salads, and dessert. I sometimes don't know why I cook. Ha ha.

By the time dinner was done and eaten, it was time to walk down to the Potomac River which was a 2 minute walk from our home (awesome right? Another thing of D.C. that I miss). We set our blanket out and decided to take a walk. It was nice, but we had done a lot of walking and Eve was tired so we decided to just chill on the blanket. When we got back to the blanket there were these random people sitting on it! I just looked at Jake and both of us were like uh, that is our blanket your on. The people looked at us and said "Oh, this is yours?" Like WTF, it's obviously not yours! Dumb people really bother me. They left and we turned the blanket over so we could relax and watch the fireworks. 

Our friends that we had met that day, but they are really are good friends now, came and sat with us. Jamie, Evan, Holly, and Chris, and all of their beautiful children! 

It was a great night! We talked for about an hour and then the fireworks went off. Right above the Washington Monument and Lincoln Monument. A-Mazing! I have seen beautiful fireworks, but there was something about the reflection in the river and the monument that made it perfect. After the firework show we went back to the house and lit fireworks off! It was a lot of fun and one 4th of July that I will always remember! :D 

This Year  After the parade we went home and had a quick lunch. We then headed into Salt Lake at the Gateway and went to The Amazing Spiderman. Not going to lie, it was pretty amazing, and the actor was like 100 x better than Toby ever was. Just my personal opinion. I loved it! I may just go to it again next week! :D After the movie we went to dinner at Olive Garden. I was pretty excited for this part because I love that place, but was quickly disappointed. We were the first in the restaurant to get on the waiting list and had to wait 30 minutes before being seated while other parties that came in after were seated first. The service sucked, I actually had to pass the plates off the tray for the waitress because she forgot and walked off to put another persons order in. It took 1 hour to get our food to come out. My food was freezing cold by the time it came out. I was a little on the P-Oed side. Once dinner was finally over, we made it over to Sugar House park to watch the fireworks. We had probably 2 hours to wait for the fireworks so me, Danielle, and Whitney went and looked at all the booths. One was KSL and they were having a drawing for a REAL game, and of course Danielle won and I didn't. UGH! Ha ha jk. Once we were seated on our blanket again, two 17 year old looking thugs came and stood right in front of us smoking. I don't give a crap if you smoke, that is your own choice, but PLEASE if you see a 4 year old, 2 year old, and a 9 month old take your smoke somewhere else! So I told them to move since we had children and I got told it's a public place, so I said ok, take it somewhere else. Needless to say I got called a B**** and was flipped off. I told them that they were immature and if they thought they were old enough to smoke then they need to act their age. UGH! I cannot stand boys of today! They are complete dirtbags. Thank goodness I found Jake or I would have no hope for the male sex. Well, then we had a dog fight right in front of us from a pitbull that bit another beautiful dog. I felt so bad for that doggy. You could tell he was hurting. THEN! As the fireworks were starting these people were walking all over our blanket and standing in front of us so we asked them to go around or sit down and they called both my mom and I B****** and told us to F-Off. Awesome right? The guy was about 25 and told my mom that. Like seriously? Where is the respect these days? Again, I have no faith in the male sex except for my husband, my dad, my dad in law, and all my brothers. They are all pretty much pigs anymore. No offense needs to be taken because we all know it's true. Anyway, once the fireworks were over we booked it out of there and got home fast. Too bad the ban is in tact for house fireworks or we would be outside doing that. 

So that was the two differences of this year compared to last year. Both years were Amazing and I love this country so much that I am so happy to have been born in the USA and to be called an American. I hold pride in that and I hold a responsibility with that title. We all should. I love this great Nation and the military men and women that fight for it everyday. I respect them so much and I love my true love so much for doing it himself!

Now, here are some cute pictures of the girls and grandpa and grandma! :D