Happy Memorial Day!

Today was really a GREAT day! I LOVE days when we just get to enjoy being a family- and that is what we did today, while also realizing how lucky we are to have what we have- first and foremost through the blessings of God, and also as a result of the sacrifices made by so many who gave their lives so that we could enjoy ours. How lucky can we be?

And I needed a day like today. I have been so frustrated by things that our happening in our town here, and it's nice to rejuvenate, remember what is truly important, and count the blessings that we have.

I started out the day by going to a friends house to review plans for her daughters wedding. I am very excited because I get to help in the kitchen at the wedding reception! I know that sounds funny, but I want to be the go-to kitchen person for weddings, and this is a start. I'm very excited! The wedding is on Friday and I can't wait!

Then we went on a family bike ride to Waterton Canyon. It was so fantastic! So beautiful, so perfect. Much better than last year when we went and hiked Waterton and vowed to never hike there again. A bike ride, however, was a horse of a different color!

 Claire and Camille did a great job in the bike trailer:

 But this little one also wanted to eat dirt and sticks:

 We had a nice picnic lunch:

 The older girls played in the water- this may have been their favorite part:

 Isn't it so beautiful??? To think this is only 15 minutes from our house- what a tremendous blessing to live in such a beautiful area!

 She LOVED dropping sticks over the rail. When she gets excited she shakes her whole body- it's really funny. She did a lot of shaking while standing here:

 We actually got a decent family picture! Can we say Christmas photo?

 I really can't believe how well Audra did on her bike. We probably went about 4 miles and she never once complained. At the end as we were almost back to the parking lot she said, "I'm having so much fun!"

 Then tonight we had a BBQ with Ben's parents. (Audra said, "How come we are having a bar-b-q but we aren't eating Barbie?")

Earlier in the day Ben bought a charcoal grill. Ben is channeling Bobby Flay, who had an article in the paper in which he discussed using a charcoal as opposed to gas grill, and that your grill needed to be a Weber Grill as they are the gold standard of grills.

In 8 years of marriage, we have grilled about 3 times. But Ben has decided we will be the next Bobby Flay, and tonight we gave it a try.

It was good- we just made hamburgers and grilled zucchini, but it was tasty. I think grilling just might be in our future. What's your favorite thing to grill? Any fun tips?

To top off our already perfect day, we made homemade strawberry ice-cream. What could be better? While eating the ice-cream of Heaven, we discussed the ingredients involved in homemade ice-cream. Ann said when she was little they put eggs in their ice-cream. Ben got fat free Half and Half so we discussed that. Then Ben said, "This is pretty much the best ice-cream I have ever eaten. Let's not mess with this recipe." I'll take that as a compliment!

Of course, being Memorial Day, we did reflect on those who made today possible. I explained to Audra why we celebrate Memorial Day and she said, "But my chocolate tastes really good." At least we tried- and truly, I do feel incredibly grateful today. As we all know, a lot of people sacrificed their lives so that we could bar-b-q and go on bike rides in a free country. God bless the USA!