Happy 4th!

We had a pretty good weekend. We started out by driving to Wyoming to Nick's parents' house. Nick and I were planning on backpacking for three days, but we got rained out. Instead we left Friday morning for the Uinta mountains. We were able to get a good 8-mile hike in and stay out of the rain. The hike couldn't have been better except for a million mosquitoes. The ground was literally carpeted with tiny wildflowers, and the scenery was perfect. I love spending that kind of time with Nick.

The next day, the 4th, we took the girls to the parade. This was the first year I bought them flag shirts, and they loved them!
Seeing the fireworks was so fun. Grandpa Charles gave Emma her ear protection! She's always hated loud noises. Don't you just love the outfit.
We were lucky enough to have "Uncle" Kade with us. Everything is more fun with Kade around.
Too bad Emma was such a cheese head. This is one of the most decent pictures we have had of the four of us for ages.
Before actually going to the fireworks, we went 4-wheeling on the desert. I had never been and had so much fun. There's been so much rain that the desert was actually muddy. We were all rather splattered with mud by the time we were done. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera.

The cactus were blooming this weekend. I had no idea they were so beautiful, so we had to run back out to the desert Sunday morning before church to take pictures. Here are a few of my favorite.

For some reason, this one doesn't want to cooperate and turn the right way, but it's the best picture we got.