d an awesome time with our guests for the 4th of July. My parents drove their motor home up with a full load of passengers. Ken, Chrissy, Nina and Eric plus the dog, Holly. They arrived late afternoon on Thursday, with Emily and Charles on their heels a few hours later. We had dinner, drinks and enjoyed the view and company. C
hrissy, Emily, Nina, Eric and I had signed up for the Runner's Stampede the morning of the 4th. It was a 5K at 7am. We all made it. Eric and Nina were our runners, while Chrissy opted to walk with Emily and I. It was a beautiful morning to walk around the lake, minus the wind that picked up. Then we headed home to meet with the rest of the crowd to then leave again for the parade. It was a really great parade, as far as parades go. It might have been a 
little long though. (Oh- I found out today at my hair appt. that my hair stylist, Missie, was the momma bernstein bear in the kiddie parade last Wednesday! I think there are pictures in one of my last posts. Too cute- and hot according to Missy!) Anyway, there were lots of horses and cowboys and funny floats. Emmett lasted about an hour and then needed to go home for a nap. I think everyone was on board for the nap! The entire house napped and then started preparing for an awesome BBQ! Luke and I made ribs. They turned out great! Lots
of dips, salads and so many potato chips. I can't eat another chip for months. Oh, and lots of drinks. Watermelon tinis, "special" lemonade, and lots-o-beer. We had a few couples and their kids come by for the fun. It was nice to have them stop in. A few of the guys played horseshoes and the rest of us watched from the porch. Good days in the sun. After everyone left, we continued to play around the house. Video games in the basement, fireworks in the front yard along with frisbee with Chrissy. We had many fireworks shows to view from our front porch/yard and I got to play with my new camera. It has a special fireworks function. It was fun to watch and shot pictures while drinking wine.
The next morning, Emily, Charles, Luke and Eric went golfing. I put together a pancake puff feast with bacon and homemade cake doughnuts. Great for our
hangovers. The rest of us, went into town and shopped Sierra Trading Post, back home for naps, and then prepared ourselves for the Extreme Bulls at the 
rodeo. What a great event! The seats were jam packed together, but worth it for the show. Even the view from our seats was breathtaking. Bull riding lasted 2 hours long and had everyone on the edge of their seats most of the time. Emmett did pretty well for his 
short attention span. He loved to clap and cheer along with the crowd. Luke took him for a long walk about halfway thru the show and he was fine. (The night before, Emmett had forgotten to take a step on the front porch and gave himself a mighty big scrap on his face. Luke said they made a ton of friends with his story of "You should see the other guy!")Sunday morning, the motor home crew took off for home. Emily, Charles, Luke, Emmett and I did nothing but watch movies and drink water most of the day. We did finally pick ourselves up off the furniture and head into town for a La Cominda dinner. It was worth it to get off the couch for the food! After the food coma started to set in, we all hit the sack early.
The aftermath was not bad at all. A few rooms to clean and lots of laundry to do, but totally worth it. Same time, same place next year?!
Cactus in the front yard
Percherons in the parade
