4th of July!!

Another 4th has come and gone. Todd had a nice three day weekend and last friday he actually got home around 3, so it was a nice, long but always not long enough weekend. Friday, Todd and I went to see "Transformers 3." We have been looking forward to that movie for a long time and we were not disappointed. As Todd said on Facebook, I did cry a couple times through the movie; I'm pregnant, but I can't really blame all my emotions on that, I'm really just a bawl baby. We enjoyed the movie and thought it was a lot better then the second movie. I also cried at the end because it's over. It's like reading a good book and finishing it, it's a sad moment. Saturday, we got our couch!!!! Our apartment looks a whole lot smaller (I don't know why the lawn chairs didn't make it feel small). I have wanted a couch with a chaise seat for awhile, that's what we got, but it does make living room configuration hard... oops. So now our coffee table is too big for the couch, the chair doesn't face the TV and ya walk in and bam, there's a couch... oh well... I like my couch, my chair, and my coffee table so it's all staying. The rest of the day was just spent doing some shopping. I think Todd likes Pier 1 as much as I do... just not the price, we had fun in that store. Sunday was of course church day and we went over to a friends house to celebrate his birthday (which is on the fourth... so cool).  As many of you may know, I take the 4th very seriously and it is by far my favorite holiday. Growing up, the 4th was always a big deal in my family and for the last three 4th of Julys of our marriage, I have complained about not being home. Although I still wish I was home, we had a pretty good day. I think I soon will just have to start having my own parade and my own BBQ and water games. We had the missionaries over for breakfast. German Pancakes are now a tradition for our fourth, along with some French Toast... yum. It was nice to cook a meal for a small group of people and to not be so alone that morning. It rained here for most of the morning so Todd and I decided to watch a patriotic movie (The Patriot). After the movie the rain had cleared and we decided to make our way to downtown Bentonville to grab a bite to eat. We ate at a place called "The Station." That place has my stamp of approval for a good burger. Half way into our meal, Todd got a phone call from a family in our ward inviting us over for a BBQ. Even though we just had a hamburger, that fact that these very kind people thought of us on this day, made us feel very grateful, so an hour and a half after our first hamburger, we ate another one:). Both were very good but I think we are hamburgered out for a bit. We had a great time with their family and Gus loved playing with their boys and the boys loved Gus. We are very thankful for all the kindness people have shown us here. After the BBQ, we decided to go get some ice cream and make our way over to somewhere, to watch some fireworks. We ended up going to a Stake Center, letting off all the Idaho and Utah illegal fireworks (including the hot air balloons again) and watching others do the same. By the time the Bentonville firework started, we were hot and realized we couldn't really see them. We ended up driving around the park they get shot off from and finally parking in an alley and putting our heads out the sunroof... it worked, saw all the fireworks and still remained cool. As different as it was yet again this year, I realized this fourth how lucky I am to live in this wonderful country and that we get to actually have this day to celebrate. The best part of the day was I got to be with my best friend, my best dog, and my best "Chuck." I hope you all had a good 4th and Todd promised, promised we will be in Utah and Idaho next 4th, we've got it all planned out (we shall see... he has promised that for awhile now...).