Our Fourth of July Weekend

Ah, the fourth of July! That wonderful summer date of fun fun fun! Before I start in on what we did this year to celebrate our holiday, I would like to reminisce about how my family would spend the fourth of July when I was little.
My dad's birthday is July 3rd so we would always have a batch of the oh so scrumptious Black Bottom Cupcakes (if you want the recipe, let me know and I'll put it on another post). I don't remember quite what his birthday dinner would be, but I'm sure it was some kind of steak or something like that. Anyway it happened, the celebration began a day early for us. Thanks Dad.
On the fourth, we would always go to the Rainbow Trout Farm in Utah (don't ask me where in Utah) and fish. We always had fun doing that. However, my family doesn't eat a lot of fish so we would pack our catch in a cooler and take it to Grandpa Armstrong's house. He might have looked forward to our fishing trips as much as we did. For fireworks we did different things. One year we went to the Stadium of Fire. Mostly though, we went out front and lit/watched fireworks being set off by the neighbors and eat yummy watermelon and home made ice cream that were shared. Oh, the memories are delicious!
Anyway, this year, we kept with tradition and started our celebrations a day early. How, we weren't in Utah to join in the birthday celebration, BUT Aaron's work had a company outing to a San Francisco Giant's game. We went early and had a BBQ with the company and had fun talking and listening to the Cub Fans and Giants fans heckle each other.
Friday we had a lazy morning and made chocolate chip cookies for the ward BBQ. We then went to the BBQ and enjoyed scrumptious food and the best fourth of July cake I've ever tasted. It was a layer cake with lemon in between the layers covered in wonderful frosting and blueberries, and raspberries on top separated to look like stars. Oh it was so GOOD! Then we went home and I crashed for a good hour nap before Aaron and I went and saw WALL-E at the theater! It was such a good show! Then we watched fireworks nearby our apartment.
Saturday, Aaron took me back to San Francisco and showed me the ward building he spent a good year of his mission at. It was fun to go again where he served. He showed me the apartment they lived in and we walked about the Golden Gate Park which was nearby. On our way home, we took the scenic route along the coast and enjoyed the splendor of the earth! It was so gorgeous to watch the waves of the ocean break on the beach and smell the almost eucalyptus scent that permeated the air from the nearby woods. It was a spectacular day! I wish we got more pictures, but I don't know if they would have done any bit of what we saw justice.
I'm so grateful I have Aaron. He is my best friend and just being in his company makes every outing and thing we do that much more enjoyable. I love him so much and I'm grateful he shared with me his mission memories.