4th of July Party - 2017

This year's party was bigger than ever - not because we planned it that way, but mainly because Lance is in the bishopric and felt like we should invite more people, especially all of the new families in the ward. I have to admit, I felt a little put out about this right before the party. I felt like I was putting in a ton of effort, time, and money to pull off a party for a bunch of people I didn't know.

Because that's what I was doing.

I quickly realized that was a pretty bad attitude and what a big first world cry baby I was. Oh boo-hoo, my biggest problem was that the party we were throwing felt too big?! I got over myself and got to work and I'm glad I did.

It was so much fun! Oh yes, there were stressful moments. And it was SUPER HUMID and hot and I dripped sweat pretty much all day getting ready. But in the end it was great. I had a good time catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. (Everyone knew bishopric counselor Lance, but not everyone knew primary pianist Maren! They do now!)

Our final head count was around 57 adults and 71 kids. Ridiculous.

For the past few months I've been saving big boxes and picking them up from Costco and Sam's Club. All of the little kids had a great time building forts and trains with them. Then the teenagers had a blast turning themselves into box robots and battling it out. We had fun watching them. If you every have a big summer party, get yourself some boxes. It's the cheapest entertainment ever.

This year we also had paper rockets, which were a huge hit. Most of the kids and plenty of the dads had a go. (It's fun to watch Purdue engineers try to figure out the best rocket design!)

We'll definitely do the rockets again next year, and maybe do a candy canon as well. I think that would BLOW LITTLE MINDS.

Cole was the lone child to sit next to me during the fireworks show, and he was gone for more than half of it. In fact, I hardly saw any of my kids during the entire evening - I didn't even have to get them their dinners! This is both awesome and sad.

I love our lighting so much.

We had lots of fountains and lots of giant fireworks. I always forget just how loud they are, and that you can feel the heat when you're that close! Lance was a good guy and let the youth help with a lot of the fireworks, which they loved. I had to question this choice, though, when most of our ward deacons were up there (including Spencer) when one of the fountain containers up there caught fire and no one seemed to know what to do with themselves!

We cooked and served up approximately 80 hot dogs and 75 hamburgers, and our guests guzzled around 100 bottles of water, 75 Kool-Aid pouches, and 100+ cans of soda. (More than usual due to the heat.) We had to use 4 giant bags of ice to keep it all cool.

Every year I question whether or not we should have the party next year. And every year I get my answer when I see how much fun my kids have and realize just how much I enjoy it, too.