And the rockets red glaaaaare

Fourth of July weekend we didn't really celebrate our independance...we celebrated captivity. If celebrate is what you wanna call it!

My parents closed on their cabin just days prior to the Holiday weekend, so we all (the Coxes, Winnett's and us) trekked up for the long weekend to survey the place and do a little work, help with a couple things! Little did we know, the most daylight we'd see was the white on the brown panelled walls that we painted over, and over, and over......

Ma and Pa reserved themselves a plush hotel room at the Comfort Inn, whilst us day laborers camped out on cots and sleeping bags in the living room of their cabin, with rations of coffee and Oreos, I think some Red Vines too!

Ha! In all fairness, we've been waiting for this for a long time. Not quite as long as my parents have, I'm sure, but long enough! So it was a fun weekend that I will never forget!

We truly had a great time working together! My dad was a stellar supervisor (no shock there! ;-)), and Pam and I decided if life really got to sucking, that it is quite possible we could start an interior painting company, although I really don't wanna have to. My fingers were sore from setting caulking for days, and I'm not quite sure her neck has straightened out yet, from rolling the ceilling!

Conal worked on plumbing leaks, Bubba broke up hundreds of pounds of inches thick cement blocks, the cut apart and hauled into a rolloff a HUGE hot tub, the dudes laid laminate flooring, we painted and the kids PLAYED! It was a lot of fun to get together as a family. There was no fighting and a great display of team work. Korny, I know! I'd say we each probably logged about 20 hours worth of work that weekend, which really paid off! It gave my parents a big jump start on their cabin, and they treated us to an awesome, awesome, awesome dinner at the Branding Iron in Show Low. Now, maybe it wasn't that awesome and we were just starving, but I'd be willing to make the drive just for the salad bar and bread!

On with it, I'm rambling....

Sunday afternoon, Grandma Cox invited us all over to Heber for a 4th of July cookout and to watch fireworks from the best view in Arizona! Her house, the meal, the company, the fireworks...the true picture of Americana.

After the sun started to set, Pam and Bub and Conal and I hiked up her backyard mountain to sit atop boulders and watch the firework show with the kids. It's my new favorite thing to do for the 4th! Don't tell anyone, but it's surpassed my favorite...of fireworks on the beach! shhhh...I don't want anyone to think I like the mountains ;-)