the 4th observed, the 4th, and the 4th observed again

Note: it is now the next day at 3:34. I started this post last night and decided to finish it today. I could have done one post per activity but they are all squished in here for one massive, long blog post. Skim if you wish!

Whew, we have had quite the weekend! With the 4th being on a Sunday, we ended up with activities for three days straight. It's now 9:15 and I'm dreading a little bit the fact that I have to go to work tomorrow!

Saturday morning we got up and went to the neighborhood picnic. We have a police officer in the ward and the kids loved to see his car with the light flashing and the siren "honking" periodically. The officer blocked off the main street as our parade passed from one part of our neighborhood, over the canal, and into the other part of the neighborhood. We then had a nice breakfast. Later that afternoon I went to help a friend of mine propose to another friend of mine at Gardner village. I was able to play around like I was a photographer and I was pleased with my pictures.

Once I returned home, we quickly jumped in the car and headed to Tabiona. This is a small city outside Duchesne. Scott's friend has a ranch in Tabiona and we were invited for the weekend to attend the rodeo. We decided to just do the rodeo but not the whole weekend - too much else going on. We got there and Maddy got a tour of all the animals. We saw sheep, baby chicks, a kitten, many dogs, and some of the most beautiful horses! We had a lot of fun running around the property. There was so much grass and Maddy could just run wild.

I've never been to a rodeo before. Surprisingly - I loved it! Even with the fact that it started at 7:30, a half hour after Maddy's bedtime. In order to keep her happy we walked around the arena a lot. We had to constantly watch her because of all the people and all the horses milling around but it was the only thing that would keep her from screaming. And beside all of that, I still had an enjoyable time. At 11pm, we packed Maddy in the car seat and started the 2 hour ride home. By 1:45 we were asleep.

Sunday morning we attended church, I had a temple recommend interview, we had a nice Spaghetti lunch, Maddy took Toby for a walk, and then we headed to Dan and Linda's house for our annual barbecue and fireworks. We had steak and great salads and I ate 4 cupcakes (it's a holiday, so it's ok). It was another late night and we were home and in bed just after midnight.

Before we know it, Maddy and Maya will actually play together instead of fighting over the same toys!

Monday morning we were a bit more lazy. By 11am we were on the road headed to visit Scott's family in Payson. We had great hamburgers, played with water balloons, blew bubbles, set off smoke bombs and pops, and took a ride in the train. Scott's dad built the train and is planning to travel around the area doing rides at fairs and city events. We had a great time, Maddy bounced up and down to the rythm of the wheels and laughed out loud the whole time.

Maddy and cousins Anna, Brinn, and IrelynMaddy with mom, the cousins, Grandma Edi, Aunt Brandy and Uncle Tony in the back

Cousins Braden and Caroman in the way back

We got a great photo of Maddy and her cousin Khloe (sorry Chan if it's spelled wrong). I think Maddy was happy to be bigger than someone for a change and so she asserted her position as oldest by stealing toys and binkies.

What seems like a huge age difference now (9 months) will be nothing when these girls get to be 3! I can't wait for them to be able to play together.

So there you have it, a crazy, long, fun, full weekend. We got very little work done at home but we saw lots of people and had a nice holiday.