It's A Wonderful Life!: 4th of July 2009

As we do every year, we went up to Payson for the 4th. Lots of times we camp, but I didn't have the energy for that after our Florida trip. I think this was one of the best years we have had up there. The weather was gorgeous. A little warm, but there was always a breeze and lots of cloud cover. We arrived around noon and got everything set up. We grabbed some lunch and then the fun began. They started the games a little earlier this year which was a little sad because we were the only family up there in time to participate.

Smith Family 2009 - minus Chelsey

My handsome boys

Katy and Bo - as she would put it "best friends".

The first races were the egg on the spoon. They did it by age groups, but this was just warm up time.

Katy was first and very happy to do it. Of course she didn't understand to only use one hand.

She started trucking to the finish line (there are other kids further down) and was almost there when the people on the side started cheering for her. Totally freaked her out.

She turned around and started heading back the other way. I started running with her encouraging her towards the finish line. She ran and held on to the egg, but cried the whole time. The official felt so bad for her he declared her the winner.

Bo too didn't understand the balancing part of this game and took off ahead of the others using two hands. We stopped him and had him do it right. He dropped it about 3 times and was not the winner. He cried every time he didn't win.

Brooklyn lost, but kept a smile on her face.

Cheesy Dalin. He lost too, but didn't mind too much.

Rhett tied with the cute girl in the red shirt. This was him congratulating her. He couldn't stop talking about how cute she was the rest of the day.

Stephen was a big cheater as you can see by his cleverly placed thumb. He still didn't win though.

Whitley playing fair and square.

Katy won bubbles as her prize and didn't compete in any more of the games.

Bo in the sack race. He had a blast until he realized he didn't win.

Then he would hang on my leg and cry.

Dalin gave it his all but still never won. He tried to be brave, but the tears were there.

Brooklyn sack racing.

Rhett and the same cute girl tied in the sack race, but one other girl beat them both. You can see Dalin in this race as well. He didn't care about he age thing, he just wanted to race.

This is me and Bo doing the three-legged race. Not a great match, but who is at 4 years old? We didn't win, but it was still fun and I think he maybe didn't even cry this time.

The guy was using a microphone and this is Katy hiding behind Glade saying it was "too loud!"

Stephen and Whitley always do the three-legged race together. They didn't win, but they had fun and stayed together.

Rhett and Dalin teamed up as well. I love to see them teamworking and smiling.

The very last race was a foot race. Bo smiled the whole time. He didn't officially win, but they didn't declare one so I told him he won and could get a prize. I'm saying the prize was for getting over the tears and having a good time.

This was the only race Nick competed in and of course, he won. What a poop.

Whitley won for the girls in her age group.

Even Grandma participated in the 50+ category. She didn't win, but gave a good effort!

They also had a water balloon toss that Glade and I won. We usually do the three-legged and do well, but our band broke the first step. It was too crowded and we didn't get a smooth start. It was lots of fun and not even too hot. This is one of our favorite parts of the day.

As the afternoon went on, more and more people showed up. The Johnson's came up with us, so I guess they were there for the games, I forgot about that. Then family came and some friends of family. I think we ended up with about 75 people there. It was perfect. The kids just played all afternoon while the adults chatted and chased little ones.

Dalin trying to adjust Joy's comfy chair.

Whitley sharing with Kamry and the Woolf girls.

The littler kids stayed close to camp playing games.

The big kids took a break from the sun to play some Zarahemla.

Wouldn't be 4th of July without washers. Bo and Kimball playing while Kamry chills on the sidelines.

Around 5 pm, Glade and I headed to Wal Mart to get the food for the BBQ. Glade cooks up burgers and hot dogs while everyone provides there own drinks and munchies.

We took Stephen's friend Jordon with us and the three boys went for a walk around the lake. They found an army tent and came back with all sorts of goodies. My phone better not start ringing in 4 or 5 years!

Dinner on a blanket in the grass. What could be more American?

All the little ones enjoyed rolling down the hill.

Me and Glade

Hailey, Kamry, Lacy and Katy all hanging out together. Very cute!

Katy being her cheesy self. Love that girl.

Dalin was just hanging out on a blanket up the hill.

I tried to capture our whole group, but couldn't do it. Most of what you see belongs with us.

Uncle Joe brought lots of little balloons and was blowing them up for all the kids. Quite a hit!

After dinner, we cleaned up and waited for fireworks. It was starting to get dark so it gets a little scary with the little ones. We try to keep them close, but it doesn't always happen. We lost Katy. I was pretty frantic, sending everyone out to look for her. The whole park is packed at this point with tons of little kids. After looking for just a little while, I decided to ask the band to announce that we had lost her. Right as I started to speak to them, two police officers came to ask the same thing of them about a 7 year old. When they heard me say I had lost a two year old, they asked if she was blond and named Katy. Whew!! They took me to where they were keeping her and told me someone had found her and she said she couldn't find me and told them she was Katy. I was impressed that they could understand her. He said she wasn't upset, just playing with some kids. I was so happy to see her. Now the trick was gathering everyone who was out looking for her. It was past dusk and more towards dark now. She just wanted to sit on my lap after that. I was fine with that! Chelsey had to work till four and was then going to come up with her "friend" Bo. They didn't show up till almost 8, but we were glad to see her. It was a long drive for a short visit, but I'm glad she was willing and excited to do it.

The fireworks were starting and of course, she freaked out. She doesn't like ANY noise. The fireworks were awesome! A little long, but really good. When they were over, we just chilled until traffic let up enough to actually get out. It was over an hour, so lots of kids fell asleep while we waited. We ended up getting home around 1 am.

This is how Katy ended up. Head completely covered with me holding her ears.

Bo doesn't like loud things either. He liked the fireworks, just not the popping.

Finally, she fell asleep and all the noise stopped making her jump. See Leslie there in the back. He family happened to be in Payson for a soccer tournament, so they came and joined us. I was really happy and I think they all had a good time.