Country Livin'

We had a wonderful Independence Day weekend! We drove up to beautiful Alton on Thursday and had a yummy homemade pizza picnic with family and friends. Of course there were smores and trampoline games after dinner.

Alton is a tiny town built in a green valley surrounded by red and white mountains that are covered with green pines and sage bushes. Most of the townsfolk are cattle ranchers so most of the houses are placed next to the large fields. Some with animals, some without. It is wonderfully cool temps and you almost always bid the day farewell with a stunning sunset.

With that said you can get a feel for our surroundings as we celebrated our nations freedoms as well as the town of Alton's 100 year birthday celebration. On Friday we were woke up at 5:00AM our time by the town fire truck's siren. Stacey (my sister in law) is the fire chief, so she and Leif's brother Erik drove the truck. They drove it down every street in town making sure everyone knew that it was a day to wake up and celebrate. Leif went in to the house and helped prepare a delicious breakfast. I stayed in bed with the kids:) I was thrilled that the sirens didn't wake them up. I climbed out of bed a little while later after the town played Big Band music over the town speakers, that got me smiling and hopping out of bed.

After breakfast we went to a parade and then a patriotic centennial ceremony.
That evening we joined everyone in Alton at the park and had a dutch oven cookout, MMM! That night we went home to play a game of Boccie Ball. Grandma took Jakob to the Old Time Country dance. The game was fun, but I found myself missing Jakob. I love to watch him dance! I was delighted to get a phone call from grandma telling me that Jakob only wanted to dance with me. We rushed over to the town hall and I got to dance with Jakob before we headed out to see the fireworks show. That was a special mama moment. The fireworks were a lot of fun too!

Saturday proved to be another fun day! The big event was the truck tour of Alton that we took. Erik drove us through the outskirts of town to see all of the land that Stacey's family owns. We only got high centered once on a log. Mark climbed on the back bumper and we rumbled off the log and kicked up a lot of dust. Just like a normal Baron Exploration Trip!:)

I wasn't surprised when we drove down to the shooting field. Guns are a part of small town recreation. I have tried to shelter Jakob from guns for a long time. I have finally had to accept that he is a little boy and boys are usually fascinated with guns. But I NEVER expected to shoot a gun myself, in his presence. Everyone really tried to get me to shoot the 45 caliber gun. I hesitated for a while. But they helped me realize that if I shot a gun myself, I had a better understanding of what I was trying to explain to Jakob which is that a gun is a VERY powerful thing. And it was!!! After shooting my first target I decided that I wanted to put Jakob in a gun safety and education class this summer. I want him to understand the seriousness of guns so that if he ever comes in contact with a gun while away from home, he will know what to say and do, and why. He and his cousins will start this summer. And no, I don't think I'll shoot again.

We are so grateful for all of our family. We are surrounded by fun and supportive family on both sides. This is a true blessing!