July 4th Fun

Arising early to start their July 4th in Patriotic fashion, the three boys sang in the Primary Choir at the Orange Stake's annual Flag Ceremony.

The boys sang "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (here they are acting out "riding on a pony") and "My Country 'Tis of Thee".
The Orange Stake 11 year-old scouts gave a wonderful flag presentation displaying 10 flags that were used during the Revolutionary War time and explaining the history of each flag. George Washington actually gave the design of the first flag to Betsy Ross and suggested the 13 colonies be represented by the 13 stripes. Betsy Ross suggested adding the 13 stars in the blue banner area.

Later in the day, the children rode their bikes from our home to the Martins' neighborhood party. Jocelyn, Blake and Brent participated in the marshmallow throw, water balloon throw, and ice cold water hunt (Jocelyn is pulling out tiny dog toys with her toys...she was the only girl to pull out all 13 toys and did not complain about the ice cold water.)

Mark spent his whole afternoon climbing up and sliding down this awesome water slide. Brent and Blake also enjoyed sliding down it multiple times, but they also spent a lot of time riding their bikes and helping themselves to cupcakes, cookies, and hamburgers galore.

Baby update...Jocelyn saw two adult birds fly away from the nest this morning, so we assume the Father Bird is helping to feed and care for his infants. There are some more colors showing up on the heads of two birds, so we hope they are getting adequate nutrition.

Happy 4th of July to all Patriots out there!!