We had a great 4th of July here in Great Falls.  We started the day by going to watch the town parade.  There is an Air Force Base near town, so it felt extra patriotic, which we loved.  The first portion of the parade was dedicated to military, veterans, and soldiers MIA and POW.  I have to admit, I felt pretty emotional, especially watching the sweet little old men drive past (and some younger ones), each in a convertible, with a poster attached stating where they served and in what capacity.  Makes you feel grateful to those who served and how brave they are to go and do what they have.

There were some super cool fighter jets fly by, but they were so fast I couldn't get a picture!  There was also this helicopter flying along the parade route with this flag in its door.  Maybe its my love for helicopters (after having worked with them in AK for 3 summers) or that flag that did it, but it made me feel pretty sappy too!

Being surrounded by Montana farmland, there were lots of tractors and farm equipment on parade!  It was so funny to me.  Overall it was a pretty good and entertaining parade.  And a long one, which surprised me.

For our Independence Day dinner, we grilled and cooked more than this little family needed to eat, all in the spirit of abundance and blessings we are afforded by living in this great country!  And because we wished we had friends to show up and help us eat it all.  Owen also helped me make this flag cake.   

Being so far up north, it doesn't get very dark until after 10.  We waited until after 8 to do fireworks with the kids, but it was still too light!

Of course they didn't care about that, they were having tons of fun!

Hope everyone else was able to enjoy their 4th of July, full of gratitude for this country and for all the great people and sacrifices made.  It wouldn't be the same without them!