food, crochet, merriment
As the sun goes down on our parade day, the crowd thins out a bit and the truly stalwart settle in to wait for the…
amazing fireworks…
AND the glow-in-the-dark gypsy-man that only comes out on warm summer nights. Ooooh…
and more breathtaking fireworks…
and sweet babies who can’t figure out why the sky is exploding. Poor Baby Chomp.
All in all…it was a lovely, fabulous, beautiful night…
for fireworks…
all kinds of fireworks…
HAAA!
Sorry…couldn’t help myself! :}
If sitting on the grass for hours on end waiting for a parade to start isn’t YOUR idea of fun–then you, my dear, are totally hanging out with the wrong people…
and you apparently didn’t bring your LoveSak!
I mean seriously, we even have a guy with a trumpet. Beat that if you can.
At last the parade finally, finally was ready to start–with the siren blaring police motorcycle squad. They didn’t seem to realize that nobody, NOBODY likes to hear a police siren…ever.
Then, of course, up on our feet for the military flag procession.
Next came the beauty queens who were wearing really pretty gowns THUS proving that they don’t have to be half-dressed to win pageants. Yeah ladies!
Oh, now wait. The sign on the jeep says that this gal is “Mother of the Year.” I thought that was MY title. Wowww. How did this happen?
These little Swiss Misses made me thirsty for Hot Chocolate…in June!
And this Big Foot Wookie dude scared the heck out of some of the kids. He had a really loud motorcycle that tried to make me deaf too.
Purple is a great color for a band. There was a lady running along squirting water into their mouths and darting up and down the rows. Pretty sure SHE had the hard job!
This float had children holding signs that said, “Thank you, Military,” in a bunch of different languages.
A guy from the Missionary Mall Float came by tossing out neckties to the crowd. Lyndi just stuck her little hand up in the air and Poof! she caught one!
One of the best things in the parade are the gorgeous horses…
and the beautiful bagpipers. Someday maybe my two boys will be in the parade…playing those pipes…and wearing those kilts. They’re Scotsmen, after all!
I’m working on it.
A fireman tossed Lily a nice red fire hat, while her brother practiced his sword swallowing skills. Go Beckham!
Once the parade was over, everybody dog-piled on the LoveSak and gobbled down pizza and sat back to wait for the evening to begin.
To be continued…
Heh, heh, heh.
In 1918 Brother George Goates was a farmer who raised sugar beets in Lehi, Utah. . . . An influenza epidemic . . . claimed the lives of George’s son Charles and three of Charles’s small children—two little girls and a boy. In the course of only six days, a grieving George Goates made three separate trips to Ogden, Utah, to bring the bodies home for burial. At the end of this terrible interlude, George and [his young son] Francis hitched up their wagon and headed back to the beet field.
On the way they passed wagon after wagon-load of beets being hauled to the factory and driven by neighborhood farmers. As they passed by, each driver would wave a greeting: “Hi ya, Uncle George,” “Sure sorry, George,” “Tough break, George,” “You’ve got a lot of friends, George.”
On the last wagon was freckled-faced Jasper Rolfe. He waved a cheery greeting and called out: “That’s all of ’em, Uncle George.”
When they arrived at the farm gate, Francis jumped down off the big red beet wagon and opened the gate as [his father] drove onto the field. George pulled up, stopped the team, and scanned the field. There wasn’t a sugar beet on the whole field. Then it dawned upon him what Jasper Rolfe meant when he called out: “That’s all of ’em, Uncle George!” . . .
This man who brought four of his loved ones home for burial in the course of only six days; made caskets, dug graves, and even helped with the burial clothing—this amazing man who never faltered, nor flinched, nor wavered throughout this agonizing ordeal—sat down on a pile of beet tops and sobbed like a little child.
Then he arose, wiped his eyes, . . . looked up at the sky, and said: “Thanks, Father, for the love of these dear friends.”
Vaughn J. Featherstone
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in the world this very minute?
A big, burly boy who will put together a backyard swing for his Momma…just because.
What’s right in your world this very minute?
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is coming.
Yep, the signs are positively everywhere…
Roustabouts putting up there rides…
then testing them out.
Bleachers being set up to get a better view of the parade…
or watching those who are perfectly happy to watch everything from the ground level set up “camp.”
One the best signs that our favorite event–Summerfest– is coming soon is..
the official “claiming of a half city block” in the name of two sisters, 1 brother and all their kids.
I know, I know…it starts on Saturday and we have our blankets down on Thursday morning. It may seem early to you, but we do what we must to make sure nobody…I mean nobody–takes our special spot.
So if you go out on Saturday, and you see us, be sure to say hi. I promise, rain, sleet, snow or sunshine…
we’ll be there–so stay tuned!
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