The Preslars: July the 4th, Among Many Things

Huh. It would seem that I did not take a single photo of the holiday celebrating the birthday of our nation.

Well - we actually did do a couple of things. We decided to make another early morning trek up Millcreek Canyon for breakfast in the mountains. It was just lovely. Our power was still out, and it was a hot day, so slipping up into the cooler air was, as always, just the best. Also, we made pancakes along with sausage and eggs. I do not know what I did, but somehow, those were the dang best pancakes I have EVER made. I really don't know what happened. Extra butter? Extra buttermilk? Extra time for the baking powder to fill the batter with bubbles? I don't know. But they were delicious. Far too delicious to waste time on taking photos when we could be gobbling pancakes.

By the time we got back from the canyon, the power was back on, and we could get on with finishing up the work on the kitchen. It pretty much took all dang day long for us to get it all painted and the plates hung up and the kitchen furniture and books and bowls and all of it all put away. Just in time for a few friends to come over for burgers and salads on the back porch. Such a pleasant evening. So pleasant, in fact, that we saw no need to leave and go watch fireworks. Although I was really worn out from the whole past couple of days I was willing to take the girls up to the country club like always. However, I was not at all sad when no one wanted to go and we could just collapse into bed.

Since I have no photo evidence of Independence Day I thought I'd throw in some pictures from a couple of other things we did.

The Tate family continues to be dear to us, and we love to see any production they're a part of. Ben was a lead in Freaky Friday, and this time, Dave had some small parts as well. Summery evenings outside, watching musicals in the dark, well, that's just heaven. We love the Tates.

One morning, Misty called me up to lure me away. She and her youngest daughter ventured down town for a couple of errands, and really wanted to try this Japanese dessert cafe called Doki Doki. It was so fun! Misty just ordered like 6 desserts and we just passed them around. They were so tasty although I learned that I prefer my chocolate ice cream with raspberry sauce to NOT have rose water added to it, as I suffered with rose-burps for the next 12 hours.

And here's some artwork from the cafe - I had to send these photos to Chase because they are from some of his favorite anime shows.

The Becky had another wedding in her family! Her oldest son and second child married the sweetest gal and I got to hang out with them all day long. The wedding, the lunch, the reception. I sure love my Becky. Here's what made me a brilliant person. The day was just wretchedly hot. And there were many photos to be taken. I found a shady spot and hollered to all the ladies that I was the purse babysitter and I got a lot of takers. This meant that I sat in the lovely shade while everyone else stood in the sun getting their photos taken. I'm no dummy. Well, I wasn't at that moment. Later, when Becky realized that she was going to be late picking up the food for the luncheon, I came to the rescue and went to get it for her. But I tried too hard in my heroics and tried to surprise her with a lovely cold beverage. She did indeed appreciate this and was delighted but it meant that I almost was late with the food. Becky said the drink was worth it.

Right in the middle of all the wedding business, The Becky's husband Jon was in a production of Guys and Dolls. Emma and I went to see it and had such a good time. Jon played Big Jule, and was very funny. He purchased a large collection of dice with no dots on them for the role, and every night found someone to give them to after the show. Emma was the lucky winner that night and she giggled so hard and was just delighted.