Happy 4th of July!

Our Independence day started off with a little horseback riding up Smithfield Canyon. I'm tellin' ya... I'm getting pretty addicted! Its such a peaceful feeling and its even better that my cute hubby and I can go and enjoy it together! Plus, its pretty entertaining to be around these two boys! I'm pretty sure they were seperated at birth. Gabe bet Cade $1 if he could rope one of the calves and sure enough he got him on the first try.

So Gabe hopped off his horse to help get the rope off the calf who was not to pleased to have it around his neck. Gabe caught the end of the rope and then I watched him get dragged 15 yards by a calf and stand up laughing. (Why he didn't just let go of the rope... I don't understand! haha)

It was a beautiful morning and a great way to start off our day!

I see the start of a new tradition... :)

After we finished riding we headed home to get ready and go to the Hot Rockin 4th in Ogden! We thought there would be lots of fun booths and things to keep us busy for a few hours before the Demolition derby started but unfortunately we were wrong :( There was nothing besides food and a lame car show. Oh and did I mention how HOT it was? Oh my word. I am used to sitting in an air conditioned office all day and my body is not used to this dumb heat. So we threw down our blanket to save our seats on the bleachers and went and sat on the grass under a tree for a while just to cool down. We sat and people watched. FUNNIEST THING EVER when you are at a demolition derby! haha wow... some people....I just don't even have words for. Maybe "funny" isn't even the right word? More like gross.

By 5:30 it started to get pretty packed so we decided (against all my whining about how I was melting) to go sit on the bleachers to make sure nobody stole our spot.

This is our "I can feel sweat rolling down my back and face" look. Not pretty. But thankfully by the time the derby started our friends had arrived and it was slowly starting to cool down. 

The derby did not disappoint! If you have never been to one- GO! Even if you think its "Redneck"... it is. And that makes it even better!

:)

We saw cars slam into each other...

cars start on fire (more than once)....

trucks flip over (there needs to be a derby with ALL trucks!)....

cars doing whatever is happening here

 (haha sorry, Gabe isn't home for me to ask what is happening and I haven't the slightest idea)...

and cool old cars blow fire!

Last but not least, the fireworks!

I would hold my camera up and ready and Gabe would say "ok, Now!" and helped me get some good pictures!

We had such a fantastic 4th of July! I love this guy more than anything and so glad we get to make our memories ♥

We are so thankful to live in this beautiful country and everything that it stands for. Thank you to all those who serve and fight each and every day for our freedom. They sacrifice making their own memories with the people they love so that we can.

And for that, I couldn't be more grateful.