4th Festivities

Our holiday weekend actually began on Thursday - Jake's Firecracker Tournament started in Heber that morning. We played 2 games, and won them both....the 2nd game was such a fun game to watch. Jake's team was literally getting squashed. They were down 3-10. It was almost painful to watch as they missed fielding balls and struck out at bat. But then, one boy got up to bat and made a great hit and it was the beginning of a complete turn around. In the last inning, last at bat, each boy got up to bat and had a great hit. We ended up winning 13-10! It was so fun to watch them just keep plugging away at it and never give up. We played again on Friday morning in Salt Lake winning both of those games as well. On Saturday morning began the championship rounds and we started the day playing the Las Vegas Torros. They were a great team and we ended up losing 3-5. It ended our weekend of baseball, but I think the kids all had a great time playing.

We came home from our game in Heber to find Grandma and Grandpa Lueck. They had ventured out this way (well, sort of our way...) to see my brother Steve and his new twin boys in Las Vegas. They made a short trip to St. George, spent the night in their condo there, and then came up to see us for the day on the 4th. They were hoping to see Jake play in the championship game, since they had been doing so well, but it was not to be. Instead, they met us at home to BBQ and light fireworks with the kids. They always seem to spoil the kids no matter what and their visit was just not a visit until the kids had collected their grade $$ from Grandpa...(my dad pays them $1 for every "A" they get on a report card. Although for some reason, they always seem to over-collect on those "A's" and make out with plenty more to spend on a treat!). Burgers, Brats, Baked Beans, Watermelon, Chips, etc.....is there anything better than picnic food??? I'm not sure that there is anyone out there (except maybe my bro-in -law, Mike) who enjoys a brat more than I. It has to be grilled and crispy and loaded with mustard. Not heart healthy in the least bit, but oh so good! We ate and ate and then ate some more & we enjoyed every bite. My mom made us homemade strawberry ice cream and our neighbors Jen and Sam made homemade chocolate....they were both scrumptious and the kids came back for seconds and tried really hard for thirds! Our evening came to a close with our own fireworks display. We had friends and neighbors come to our end of the street and we did our own "Street of Fire" (our personal rendition of the "Stadium of Fire" minus the crowds and traffic, and we didn't have a performance by the Jonas Brothers, but no one missed that!) The kids were having a blast lighting fireworks - even the littlest kids had their own sparklers and snaps to throw. We woke up on Sunday morning to a yummy smell from the kitchen...my mom had gotten up to make the kids her famous buttermilk pancakes. The kids request them each and everytime that she visits. I've tried to make them for the kids, but I just don't do it the same way as grandma does. She makes them flat and crispy....I just can't get it right. My parents left soon after breakfast and we were off to church. We then spent the rest of the day just being lazy...naps included. I literally felt sick all day Sunday - I think all the yummy, but not figure friendly food had caught up to me! We had a fun weekend....now, back to real life!