the fourth

The fourth of July was a little different for us this year.  Usually we start the day off bright and early at the famous Turnbow Awful Waffle.  Sadly it was cancelled this year.  I was pretty much heart broken at the news.  I started to get over the fact that we wouldn't have this fun tradition with our family this year and then pretty much the whole state of Colorado announced that they would be cancelling all fireworks this year due to all of the wildfires across the state.  Needless to say I was devastated!  Everything that made the fourth of July special was being cancelled.  I may or may not have shed some tears and been in a bad mood about this for days!

Well this special day turned out to be alright.  We went to our ward breakfast that morning. And then my sweet friend Chelsea knew how much this holiday meant to me and offered up her house and backyard for a BBQ that night.  Really all we were missing that day were the fireworks.  Which I was really sad about because I was excited to watch them with Kash this year.  But looking back and being so pregnant in the hot temps maybe it was a blessing in disguise not to push it and stay up too late.  I already felt like fainting after the breakfast and was soooo ready for bed after the BBQ!   

So it wasn't the 4th of July of my dreams but I tried to have a good attitude, of course put on my best red, white and blue and made the most of all the curve balls that were thrown at me on my favorite day of the year.  And it ended up being pretty fun!  Blaine and I are so glad to have moved into the ward we did and made the friends we have because they totally made this day fun for me!

ward breakfast

water gun fight at the breakfast

awesome BBQ the Rowan's hosted

the festive spread I brought to the BBQ!  I had to do something to cheer myself up :)
(image via instagram) 

best holiday ever

Just because I'm a little late on this post don't think for one second we didn't celebrate the fourth (in style)! We celebrated independence day Turnbow style and it didn't disappoint.

The Awful Waffle went off without a hitch this year.  It was especially fun to watch Kash "help" in the set up and actually be able to interact and realize something really cool was going on.  I thought he would love the jump castle but he kept saying it was too hot and preferred to enjoy the castle from the outside.  And like always the sandbox was his favorite place!

In between the awful waffle and the fireworks we hung out around Blaine's parent's house, made some homemade peach ice cream, let the boys throw some pops/snappers and even caught a little Rocky marathon on TV.  Good times had by all!

Then it was time to head to the fireworks.  We had a cool spot this year right on a golf course.  Perfect for a 1.5 yr old to burn some energy.  Actually we were a little worried about how Kash would do with fireworks since it would be so late and loud.  Turns out he thought they were pretty cool, but nothing compared to the moon and his baby cousin!  Every 2 seconds Kash was pointing at the moon and saying, "a-moo".  And then would check on Kieden in his carseat and then check on the moon.  When we got home Kash was asleep and as Blaine was carrying him up to bed Kash semi-woke up said "a-moo" and then fell back to sleep.  Kid is obsessed I tell you!

fourth of july 20-10 style

We had a great fourth.  It was full of all the things it should be--American pride, family, bbq's, waffles (if you are a Turnbow), red. white. blue, lawn games, homemade ice cream....wait a second I see a food theme here, maybe that's why it's my favorite holiday???

I loved that the fourth fell on a Sunday this year because it ended up being a three day celebration.  I don't know that Kash loved the fact that the celebrations stretched out so long.  He did great at the Awful Waffle but by Monday he was done and ready to get back into his routine.  But he was a trooper and I loved celebrating with my little man. 

The only sad thing was that it was pouring rain the night of the fireworks.  I'm thinking it was for the better though because Kash was out an hour and a half before they started and would have probably been a little T.O.'d to have been woken by them. But we made up for it by hitting up the pool on Monday.

 363 days till the next Independence Day!

happy july

Yay today is July 1st which means my all-time fav holiday is just around the corner.  Apparently I express my love too frequently for the fourth of July because my co-worker surprised me with some red, white and blue flowers today.  It totally made my day (maybe my week)!  I can't wait to eat some watermelon, dress up in my fourth gear, dress Kash up in his fourth gear (I'm taking FULL advantage of this before the time comes when he puts up a fight) spending time with the fam, THE AWFUL WAFFLE!, fireworks and more.  Seriously it doesn't get better!

fourth of july

The fourth has come and gone. It was a great day full of waffles, fireworks and family. Can't wait till next year!

4th of july pinwheel wreath

Isn't it cute? Don't you just love the 4th of July? Last night Blaine's mom, sister and I got together for a little craft, our pinwheel wreath.

They are really easy to make (if you aren't me) here are the steps:

• Buy the right size straw wreath (I struggled with this but I think it turned out okay). The one pictured is an 18" wreath
• Wrap it with coordinating ribbon, but make sure you buy enough to go around the whole wreath...yeah I didn't buy NEARLY enough ribbon good thing Marilyn has a stock of ribbon. We made Rachel do this step
• Find really cute double-sided 4th of July paper. I messed this one up at first but then redeemed myself by finding cute paper at Michael's and took the ugly paper back
• Cut the paper into fours (6"x6")
• Cut each corner of the paper towards the center of the square but not all the way through (delegate this step to your mother-in-law)
• Fold alternating corners into the middle of the square and secure with a hot glue gun. Again this was a hard step for me and I kept gluing down the wrong corners!!!
• Once all the pinwheels are made secure them to your wreath with upholstery pins and voila you have the perfect 4th of July wreath

I promise this is not a hard craft, I'm just struggling with simple tasks lately!

stripes and bright stars

On Sunday in church the closing song was the Star Spangled Banner, we stood up to sing it and I couldn't stop crying the whole time. Minus me being a huge bawl baby in general, anything to do with our country always gets me. This is the first thing our ward has done right! haha

I'm pretty sure we sang it because Sunday was flag day, but I like to think it was in preparation for the fourth of July (my favorite holiday!!!) because it's never to early to prepare for a day like that! Bring on the red, white and blue!

awful waffle 2008

I knew Blaine was the man I would marry when he told me about a tradition his family held on my favorite holiday...The Awful Waffle. The Turnbow's prepare for weeks, spend tons of money, have many sleepless nights, all in the name of waffles.

Every year on America's birthday they celebrate in style. They transform their back yard to a red, white and blue-waffle eating festival! They buy pounds and pounds of bacon and sausage, they make gallon after gallon of waffle batter and they have an endless supply of syrup to go with it.

I didn't fully understand the scale or intensity of The Awful Waffle, it's something you have to experience in person. But just like a little girl on Christmas Eve, on July 3rd I anticipated what the next day held in store. That morning 5am didn't come too early for me. I jumped out of bed and couldn't wait to get to the event! As I dressed in red, white and blue I could hardly stand the anticipation. As we pulled up to the Turnbow house I squealed with excitement as I saw a marquee above the basketball hoop that scrolled AWFUL WAFFLE 2008. Ooooo I loved it already. As they set up the normal back yard to a place where 200 + people would eat breakfast, the magic of that day started to unveil itself. I had never been to such a fourth of July event!

People started coming right at 8am to line up for the famous Turnbow waffles (made from scratch mind you), and the line didn't stop for two hours. People kept laughing, "This should be called the Great Waffle not the Awful Waffle," which got old quick. And as Wayne Turnbow would simply explain, "Well that doesn't rhyme!"

Overall it was a great day and the Awful Waffle lived up to all it's hype. I can't wait till next year!

fourth of july card

get excited!

...because I am! The fourth of July has been and will always be my favorite holiday of the year. I lalala love it!

"Remember when you were little and we went to the Murray fairgrounds with Rick, Tami and Brendon and we laid right under the fireworks. It was like they were going to fall right on us. You and I were having fun but Brandon was scared and crying. You always were a good lil girl....."-Shelley Jolley

Not only have I always loved the fourth, I've always been a good lil girl! haha Therefore you can imagine the excitement and anticipation today brings, the eve of independence day. I wish I was at home making a million awesome Fourth of July things (as seen below) and preparing for the big event. Oh well tomorrow is sure to bring great things.

The Awful Waffle [details of this event to come in a later post].
family.
friends.
red.white.blue
American Pride.
fireworks.
watermelon.
warm summer weather.

I was at Martha's website today and saw all of these cute recipes and craft ideas. So get inspired folks! Make something red.white.blue. Be patriotic. Raise a flag.
And have a Happy Independence Day!
All images are from marthastewart.com