4th of July 2017

I got two words for you Shane "Chicken Nuggets"  That is one of the parables of the Stringham/Wright family.  A couple of 4th of Julys before, the Stringhams were watching a parade with the Reeves.  The Chickfila float was going by they were throwing out little boxes with 3 or 4 chicken nuggets in them.  Just as one was flying towards Scott's hand Shane (who was about 13) reached up and snagged them out of the air.  So Scott asks Shane to share some of the nuggets with him.  Shane proceeds to shove them all in his mouth and scarffs them down.  Scott tells him you know Shane bad karma comes back around.  Well Scott had a delicious drink called a Texas Twister, cool refreshing lemonade, with cherries and fruit.  A short time later, after eating several hand fulls of candy and a salty box of chicken, Shane asks, "Scott, can I have a cool refreshing drink?"  Scott looks at Shane and says "you know what Shane, I have two words for you you: Chicken Nuggets."  Shane immediately realized that what goes around comes around.
The above picture was taken several years later when Scott caught the Nuggets he wanted to remind Shane about karma.

dance party at Thanksgiving Point 

4th of July 2015

For the 4th of July this year my sister Amy had a BBQ pool party at her house with her new swimming pool.  

We all had a good time swimming and snacking.  When it came time for fireworks poor little Lizzy was kind of nervous and her mom was even more nervous.  Thankfully she is young enough that she should be able to get over her traumatic experience.  I could tell that she really wanted to just be a kid and run around enjoying the fireworks.  I take that as a good sign.  The 4th of July is quickly becoming one of my favorite holidays.  It is in warm weather, there is no crazy demands. it usually involves playing in water, and there is fire in the sky.  It is just a no stress holiday, one where I can get away with not having to do too much to get ready for it if I don't want to.
Scott of course went a little crazy with the fire works, sneaking off to buy extra while I was busy entertaining kids.  But if it makes him happy it makes me happy.

July 4th Fireworks 2014

During the fourth of July my sweet niece got severely burnt by a rouge firework.  She was innocently watching the fireworks on her front lawn when one unexpectedly tipped over in its attempt to explode then shot right at her.  It shot up her skirt and exploded, causing the blanket she was on, her skirt, and her to catch on fire.  He quick thinking dad rushed to her aid ripped her skirt off and hosed her down but the damage was done.  She was sent to the burn unit to repair the damage.  It was traumatic for the whole family.  Thankfully this little one is a feisty girl and didn't let it get her down too bad.  She had weeks of therapy and re-wrapping of her bandages but because of her age and health she has healed wonderfully.

This brings us to the 24th of July.  Here in Utah that is a major holiday that included fireworks.  We invited them over for a little fire fun.  Both Lizzy and her Mom were still traumatized with their last experience with fireworks so they spent most of their time watching from inside the house.  The boys were unstoppable.  there is just something about boys and fire.  We tried to keep everything as safe a can be when working with fire.  I even had Amy come out and hold a sparkler telling her this was part of her therapy, she can't be afraid forever,  Its like getting back up on the horse.  She seemed okay with the sparkler and we even had some fun trying to create different designs.  

Carrie Underwood/ stadium of fire July 2014

Right after we got home from Yellowstone Scott and I went to Stadium of Fire with Carrie Underwood.  Last year we went and saw Kelly Clarkson, its interesting to see how different they were in their shows.  Carrie Underwood is a great singer and I love that she really feels the music and that her music is usually so heartfelt.  That being said Kelly Clarkson whom we love really knows how to work a crowd.  I felt like overall that was the difference, maybe Carrie is too nice and sweet.  The music WAS good and she even sang us a new song that she has never performed before.  She was so cute because she was so nervous about it and asked us to bear with her but it was amazing we loved it.  As soon as she was done she took a huge sigh of relief, that made me like her that much more. 

Studio C was there as well and let me say that they are a funny group of people.  They had a skit where  2 were spectators in the stands and the rest were vender's.  One was selling cotton candy and proceeded to shout out all the ingredients instead of tempting us with the flavor.  Another was the Lobster Bisque guy and after him was one selling gauze and burn ointment.  The spectator says "do you just go around following the hot soup guy?"  To which he replies, "actually I usually follow the porcupine guy."  and right on cue a vendor comes selling porcupines.

Th music was great the comedy funny and the fireworks spectacular, and this time I didn't even feel guilty about leaving the kids behind.