WOW!!!!

What a weekend! This last holiday has ALWAYS been a big favorite of mine, and for the first time, I felt more like celebrating it as actually Independence Day (freedom, pride for my country, gratitude) and not just the 4th of July (fireworks, parades, great food). Two things I have found since living here this summer that everyone must do in their life:Be in DC for Memorial Day and be in DC for the 4th of July! We have had such a good time the last few days. Nate's mom, dad, and little sister flew into town late Wednesday night, so Thursday afternoon we took off work early and headed down to Warrenton to stay with them at Nate's sisters' for the weekend. We played games until way too late, then woke up early for my favorite holiday, the 4th of July! There was a big breakfast at Sara's church and after, what else than a bike parade! Of course, it was not as wonderful as the rocking North Ogden Cherry Days bike parade and I didn't get to help decorate the girls' bikes because I was helping to clean up breakfast; nonetheless, still pretty fun. Nate and I unexpectedly ended up jogging with the girls on their bikes and we had a good time. Before going downtown, all the children had to go down for naps because we were going to have a long day so we didn't get to DC nearly as early as I would have liked, but that's what happens when there's kids involved. Once we got downtown, parked and found a spot to camp out (it was like 330pm-fireworks are at 915), we get word from bike patrol people that there is a severe thunderstorm warning until 515 and we may want to find cover. What the heck? I have never in my life had a rainy 4th of July! it's supposed to be blazing hot! Long story short, we ended up making it through several storms, nothing dangerous just very, very wet. We alked around The Mall just to see what was there, and made our way through literally millions of people. So by the time fireworks are getting ready to start, I'm pretty pumped. Not just because I love the 4th, but because it was currently not raining and I was sitting down. We were sitting across the Potomac River looking at the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial-spectacular seats. So the first shot goes off, wow! I'm so stoked to be in DC on Independence Day and see the nation's best fireworks! Second shot, huh, the smoke from the first firework hasn't gone anywhere. It's right in my view. Oh what do you know, when there's a whole lot of dumb rain clouds in the sky the smoke has nowhere to rise, so it came at us instead! Basically, I watched the smoke change colors. Nate says it really isn't as bad as I make it out to be, but I was pretty dang bitter. So if anyone has those fireworks recorded or knows how I can view it online or something, I'd really love to watch them. Even though I kept thinking I was just on the lawn at Weber High watching a really good firework show and listening to Neil Diamond, I did still love being in DC that day. You can just feel the patritotic vibe.
Saturday was spent up to The Reenactment of Gettysburg. This is why Nate's dad made this trip. They do a big reenactment every five years and this was the 145th. Nate and I spent 2 nights earlier in the week with some friends watching The Battle of Gettysburg movie (2 nights because it's two tapes long!) on assignment from his dad. I'm so glad we did, becuase it made being up at Gettysburg a lot more sense to me. It's been the best history class I've ever taken! Nate's dad is really big into the Civil War, and he was like a little kid in a candy store there. It was a lot to take in, but we all had such an incredible time. After the Reenactment, we headed over to the actual Battlefields. (The Reenactment is not portrayed on the real Battlefield because it is considered holy ground there, and they are still finding remains and things like that from the fight.) It was amazing to be see; I felt like I could see thousands of soldiers lin this area, I felt like I was there, and at the same time I felt like there was no way this could be real; that so many died and fought. It is indescribable how sacred that area is and the feeling you get there. I learned so very much and am really greatful for the opportunity I had to spend this with family who knew so much and could teach me. I feel like I am a Gettysburg pro now-quiz me! On Sunday, Nate' s dad, mom and sister went back to Gettysburg after church to see the final battle reenated, Pickett's Charge. We would have really liked to see that too, but we decided to be nice an volunteer to be babysitters for the day. It was quite the experience for me to play Mommy for the day, especially Sunday. We got the girls ready for Church, fed them, transported them, made it all the way through church with no major dramatic experiences, made it home, created a nice Sunday dinner, and even watched a movie with them before mom and grandma got home to take over. What a day! I think it was really good for Nate too, to see how much work it is just to go to church with kids! We played more games all night Sunday, but Nate and I had to work on Monday, so we left late to finally go back home. We all had such a good time, Nate and I decided to go back down to Sara's monday after work for more games. What a blast! Remind me to never let myself play rook with Fuller's again! Nate's dad was flying out today, but his mom and sis are here till saturday. Steve's flight got rescheduled 4 different times (curse you Delta!), but he finally made it out. And today was my friend Tosha's birthday, so after we finally got Steve on a plane, we went and got her and took her for ice cream!! Happy Birthay, Tosh! Nate is currently playing basketball at our stake center with a bunch of guys from our stake, so I finally have the chance to sit and blog. I don't know what we are doing this weekend, but since Nate's mom and sis are still here for a few days, we will probably make some more trips down to Warrenton to play with them. It is so much fun having family here, combining the best of both my worlds. But it does make me more homesick. :( Work is going pretty well still, I got a raise. :) We still don't have anyone to take my place yet, so I'm starting to really get worried. I would hate to leave these guys in the same position as where I found them; it would kill me. So please continue to pray for me that we might find a good candidate to take my place! Nate is doing some extra training at work this week that he says is really boring, but it will be a really good thing to add to his resume. Sometimes they don't have any work for him to do, an when they do give him an assignment he completes it so fast they can't keep up with him. So he feels like they paying him a lot of money to do a lot of nothing. But he is learning a lot about what he does and doesn't like in a real job setting, and what kind of working skills he really has to support, so that's a really good thing. I guess that's what internships are for! Well friends and fam, now that I have given you nearly every detail of almost our entire last week, I guess I'm done here. Thanks for being interested in us!! HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!