Thursday Night we went to a wonderful Stake Patriotic Fireside. I love that they have started doing these. Because our stake has Nellis Air Force Base as well as a small Army base in it we have A LOT of Millitary personal. We also have a full stake orchestra, which was fantastic. We sang and listened to the patriotic songs including my favorite "I'm Proud To Be An American". Which is the song I heard on the radio when I was five that inspired my first feelings of Patriotism and of gratitude for our forefathers. They sacrificed so much for our freedoms. I love this country and all that we enjoy because of inspired documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Bill Of Rights. I am grateful to the men who have and continue to fight for those freedom both on the battlefield as well as those at home. We then watched a video that showed the pictures and dates of service of each of the men and women within our stake who serve/served in the military. One gentlemen present, who was in his 90's, was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed in WWII. I am amazed by the great sacrifices that these soldiers make as well as their families. I wish that I knew a way to better serve my country. But as the Prophets and many great philosophers have stated, the greatest good we can do is in our homes by teaching the next generation. I pray that I can do that better each day. I adore my children and hope that I am instilling in them my awe and gratitude for this great nation. May God Bless it Forever.
We ate Watermelon! What is the 4th of July without watermelon? It was Lissy's second time eating it-as you can see both Mas & Lissy love it! (Mason's hair is messy because we also spend the day in our little pool-which I know I have yet to take any pictures of.)
We went on a hike
to Red Rock Canyon. We really like it there because it's clean, quite, beautiful and free! Mason loves running up this bridge-mommie sometimes chases him. We will probably come back here this weekend to take bridal pictures of Aunt Stephy. Lissy loved riding on Dad's shoulders-free access to his hair! Needless to say that didn't last very long.
Lissy is such a somber child. Not much bothers or intrigues her-Mason loved hiking while we carried him in this-Elise seems indifferent to it.
I added this picture because I've heard compliants that I don't add enough pictures of myself. John took this to see how/where he wants to take some shots of Steph for her bridal's.
And I love this shot of Lissy riding on Dad's shoulder holding her little hand out. She's always doing funney things with her hands.
Lissy is also our very pensive girl, she thinks and watches everything.
Friday night we watched the fireworks go off all over the city. Living on the outskirts of town on a hill maked watching fireworks fun. We watched hundreds of fireworks going constantly. In Nevada they also allow individuals to buy the big fireworks-which was great! Many of our neighbors bought lots. We failed in the personal fireworks department. We bought what we thought were fireworks-cones, spinners, etc-but they turned out to be all poppers (ie you pull a string and confetii and strings come out....Mason was Disappointed...we'll have to make up for it on the 24th.
Lissy couldn't decide where she wanted to be...it was past her bedtime was all that she knew. She sat in her stroller, then with Daddy and later with Mommie. The fireworks didn't scare her at all, she was nonchalant about the whole affair.
Saturday we went to a little water park. Lissy wasn't sure about the cold water until daddy showed her that she could splash in it like she does in the bath tub, then it was okay. At least for a little while.
Mason on the other hand
loved it all!! He is also a
watcher, he stands back and
sees what the other
kids are doing then follows them.
He REALLY stood out-the little
white boy. He loved going down this
kid slide by himself and
playing on the
man-made beach. Mas wanted to go down the
BIG slide, but they wouldn't let him until he can
swim by himself. We'll have to get him into
swimming lessons soon.
Mommie was so
proud of how well he did
going up and
down the slide by himself.
Daddy thinks that our
pool at home is better though...not so many
kids running, splashing and yelling and
baby agreed with him. It was quite busy being a
holiday weekend. Mommie liked the
big slide.
Sunday we also got to celebrate with Grandpa and Grandma Hill. They ate a nice dinner with us-we even used the china they gave us. Then we ate the flag butter cookies we made together. They were GOOD and so much fun to make (flag cookies show at the top).
Our little Princess turned one years old on Friday Aug 22.
We were so happy to have Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Candace, Shaun, and baby Grace (who drove 8hrs) for Elise's birthday. (Grandpa, Grandma, & Candace hate their pictures taken). 
Lissy was so funney eating her cake. At first she ate it very daintily, eating one small bite at a time. By about 1/3 through eating her little cake either she realized that it was really good or that we were going to let her eat it however she wanted...I don't know, 
She loves her panda bear from Uncle Will & Aunt Anna-she just stared at it for a second then grabbed it and hugged it.
