Drama Queen? Yes. Beauty Queen? No!

Happy belated 4th of July, everybody! I hope you all had as much fun as we did. Overall it was a good day. About the only thing that would've made it better was if Josh hadn't had to rush off to work after the fireworks tonight.

Our day started off with us being in the 4th of July parade in downtown Great Falls. I was okay with just skipping this, but Josh got us out there and we joined up. It wasn't so bad. I had to try to figure out why I'm so against parades. I've been in several throughout my life. I've seen several from the sidelines. I don't know, maybe I feel it's just a lot of waiting for a few minutes of fun. I just don't like sitting and smiling and waving and being on display. I know, I'm such a hypocrite. I'll get up and make an idiot of myself on stage and live for the applause, but getting on a float to wave at people and have my cheeks hurt from the fake smile, just isn't my cup of tea. But, it was actually very fun and the kids loved it. Emma said being in the parade was "a dream come true...I always saw kids in parades and wished I was them. Now, I'm in a parade and I bet other kids will look at me and wish they were me!" How can you argue with that? We were on the float for the Mercy Flight unit of Great Falls. It's the helicopter and fixed wing that transport patients to and from the hospital. It was pretty cool to watch the crowd realize that we were for the Mercy Fight and they'd applaud for us simply because we were a part of a noble organization. It was good to see those that had a true appreciation for the Mercy Flight, therefore having an appreciation for those that work with the Mercy Flight, therefore having an appreciation for my stud of a husband. And of course Millie was a hit as people along the sidelines noticed, "Oh, a baby!" It was fun.

In the afternoon we had a BBQ at Mom and Dad's with Aunt Bev, my cousins Jennie and Kristen, and Gramma and Grampa. Matt got a few more birthday presents and all the kids (including Jennie and Kristen) got some huge bubble wands.

Gramma and Millie. Gramma's knee surgery was almost two weeks ago. She's up and around and looks really great.

The kids were playing with the bubbles in the backyard.

Jennie, Matt, Abby, Kristen, and Emma. They had lots of fun playing. The little kids didn't want the big girls to leave. At all. Ever.

Aunt Bev and me. Bev was single for most of my childhood and I loved when she let me hang out with her. She's still so cool.

We did fireworks later that night. We had to hurry so Josh wasn't too late for work. We love doing fireworks. We've done them every year for the last four years. I don't know why we didn't do them the first few years in Alamosa. Anyway, they've become a fun thing that Josh and I do together. The last two years in Alamosa we bought a bunch of extra fireworks to do for the people at the long term care center Josh worked at. There were so many veterans there and good people in general. But, the activities director always got the 4th of July off, so she didn't bother doing anything for the residents. So, Josh and I took it upon ourselves to honor the wishes of the old folks. Alamosa had some great deals on fireworks, but in Montana the fancy shoot-up-in-the-air-making-circles fireworks are legal, so we had to pay a little more, but got some cooler ones. Only problem was that it rained really hard for the first time in weeks. We were drenched before long, including the fireworks. Oh well. It was still fun and a good day. I love my husband, my kids, my extended family, my country, my heritage of soldiers, and my freedom.

Happy birthday, America!