4th of July Weekend

I love the 4th of July! And this year, I got two days off work. Thank you Nike! So Thursday, we woke up early and I went for a run. Then we went to our ward breakfast and bike parade. The kids were cute. I also ran into some friends from BYU. They were staying with a family in our ward and were on their way to Seattle. Such a small world!

After we came home and took a two hour nap because we forgot to set an alarm, but holiday naps are the best! So we got up and it was time to start the ribs. Bryce made the rub and off to the oven for 4 hours.

Our friends, Dan and Elizabeth, came over and brought red, white, and blue jello along with potato salad and root beer floats! We ate until we were stuff, but the guys won the rib contest eating more than double than the girls.

Then we headed downtown for the fireworks. With Bryce's externship, we had a sweet connection to watch the fireworks from the 16th floor terrace of the federal courthouse! We were so excited and the fireworks looked great. Plus, we could see all the other fireworks going off around Portland.

 Let Freedom Ring - it's Independence Day!

Such a great view!

So Friday, we slept in and then I made sour cream waffles. We smothered them with strawberry freezer jam and whipping cream! Then while I waited for my laundry, I went to the gym. We then packed and headed out for the weekend. We stopped in Portland for lunch. Bryce wanted to take me to his favorite lunch place downtown, but since it is only opened from 11AM - 5PM weekdays I am not able to go. So we show up and it was CLOSED...how does this place stay in business if they are never open?! Anyways, we went to the place just down the street called Veritable Quandary and got a delicious burger to share. My favorite part was actually the picked veggies, but the burger was good too!

We then headed to Washington. The drive wasn't too bad and we got up to Austin & Rachael's around 4PM. Of course, we were super excited to see all of Vivian's new tricks and she was excited to show us. She had a little stroller that she could push around and soon this girl is going to walking!

That evening we went to a yummy BBQ place down the street. Both Bryce and I enjoyed our meals. Mine was called The Pig Pile, which isn't exactly the best name, but the cornbread was amazing! After we then went to the lake since it was such a beautiful evening.

 Saturday, we enjoyed a slow morning and then Rachael and I went for a run. It was quite warm and we got a good workout in, but we were hot. So we all got into our swimsuits and went to the lake. It was fun to just relax and be outside. We then came home and showered and headed over to Allyson's for dinner. She had prepared a feast for us! We ate hamburgers, chips, watermelon, macaroni salad, grapes, and for dessert we had grilled peaches with ice cream and raspberry sauce. SO DELICIOUS!

Can you find the tiniest one? There are 15 dolls total.

Sunday we slept in and relaxed until it was time to get ready for church. We went to church and then came home for quick meal before heading home. Such a fun weekend and so grateful we have family close!