Merrill Squared: 4th of July

For as long as I can remember my family has spent the 4th of July in Bear Lake. There were a few years here and there where we didn't go because people were working or something but for the most part when I think of 4th of July I think of getting up early for the chuck-wagon breakfast in Paris, then going to the Parade, then going to the rodeo, and then doing fireworks in the field behind my Aunt Sherry's house. Obviously as people get older things change, there are never as many people who still go to Bear Lake for the 4th, and we don't necessarily need to go the parade or the rodeo anymore but it's still fun to go up there and re-live a few of those traditions. This year we decided to actually go to the lake, not something that we do a lot in Bear Lake-ironic I know.

Carlie working on her sand castle. Pretty impresissive considering we didn't bring any sand toys or buckets with us.

Tristan and Jason working on his sand...whatever that was supposed to be... a river maybe.

My cute little brother

My cute little sister... even though these guys are 12 and 11 I still call them the little kids. They will always be little to me.

Playin a little water frisbee!

The next day we decided to do some shooting. Jason was really surprised that I had never shot a gun. Why would I want to shoot a gun??? My dad was even more surprised that as his daughter I had never shot a gun. So I decided to give it a try.

I shot it once without ear plugs and then decided if I was going to shoot again I needed some earplugs.

After attempting to shoot at moving targets, I decided to shoot at some pop cans, that were not moving. It was a lot easier and a lot more fun and the gunwas a lot more quiet.

It took some coaxing to get Tristan to shoot with the big gun and after he did, he cried. It was sort of funny. So from then on he just shot the little gun.

I know, don't we just look B-E-A-utiful? I can't believe some of the things I have done since being married, shooting a gun, wearing an Angels hat... who would have thought! It was a good weekend. Nice to spend time with each other doing new things and nice to spend time with family.