Illegal Fireworks? What's That?

Happy 4th of July! We had such a great time at the parade. We got there late, so we had to sit on the hot side of the street, but thankfully a cloud cover came, and it was quite enjoyable. They didn't throw much candy, so the kids were sad about that, but they handed out popsicles and pops to everyone. We sat with our friends the Giles and the Cooks and the Cranes. I, of course, cheered loudly for the veterans. That is by far my favorite part of the parade. I love to see the little old men who sacrificed their lives so that mine could be better. Whether you are for or against war, we owe those men a lot, and I think they deserve to be stood up for and shown just how much we appreciate them. No one was cheering for them when they went by, so I of course had to make a fool of myself and be the only one cheering. After I started though, others joined in. It's amazing how after 9-11, everyone had such spirit, but now it is almost all gone. How quickly we forget.

We were lucky to get to be close to some trees, and the kids climbed trees and hid in the shade to keep cool, before the parade started. We are lucky to have a great family that has kids just the same age as ours. Porter and Noah are great friends. We went to the Cook's for a BBQ after the parade. They live right on the Missouri River. We went out to light off some fireworks at sunset, and were amazed at the view. It was georgeous, and lasted for at least a half hour. It would have been perfect if it wouldn't have been for the dang mosquitos. They were horrible.

In Montana, there is no such thing as Illegal fireworks. So needless to say, the bigger the better is the attitude here, and picalo petes, and flowers aren't even sold. Everything flies up into the air. The crazy thing about it though is that everyone and I mean everyone goes to the parking lot of K-mart to light off their fireworks before the city starts theres.

We all went, and it was crazy. I have never had so much fun on the 4th of July before. We never could tell when the city actually started theirs. Everyone had fireworks that shot up into the air like the ones that we see in Utah at the firework shows. It was amazing. There were fireworks blowing up all over, and people ducking for cover. I laughed so hard. The kids were in heaven. All around up there were just massive amounts of fireworks going off.

Mara had fallen asleep in the car, and Emma who had slept through all of the other fireworks, woke up and stared wide eyed at the event.

Next year you all need to come to Great Falls, Montana and celebrate the 4th of July with us. You will never believe it if you don't see it for yourselves. We had so much fun.