Rasmania 101: 4th of July 2020

This Fourth of July was different from any other. Parades and fireworks shows were cancelled because of the pandemic (we had a record high number of cases in Utah on the 4th--676 cases). People still celebrated as best they could. We had a couple of small "neighborhood parades" pass by. In the first parade we saw a lot of Cadillac's, painted for the fourth of July. One boasted an old fashioned cafe complete with a black and white (fake) TV in the corner. We have a neighbor that owns an old fire engine that he has restored, and he drove that in the parade, siren's wailing. Someone with a sense of humor set his folding chair on main street, put ropes around it and put a sign that said, "reserved for 2021." Of course, no one lacked for fireworks to watch, they were everywhere.
The day didn't feel like much of a holiday (nor the 3rd either, which was the "holiday observed"). We spent the morning and afternoon like many Saturdays, getting chores done, working in the yard, and having an afternoon nap. Around 4:30 we headed to Logan for Matt's annual fireworks show. He gets the fireworks at cost from his company.
When we arrived in Logan I was about 5 minutes away from completing a novel, but I got out of the car without it. When I realized Crista still hadn't showered, I went back and got my book and joined Ruby in the backyard. She did not like me reading and not giving her attention. She said, "Grandma, don't you want to play with your___children?" I think she had a hard time thinking of the "grand" part. However, bad grandma that I am, I still wanted to finish my book, so I gave her my phone so she could do puzzles while I read. That was fine with Ruby.
Crista and Matt have been remodeling a lot of their home. They have added a master bath and closet, and redone counter-tops, and flooring, and Matt even built a place for their shoes and coats, inside by the back door. Because of this, Roy offered to bring up dinner. He grilled delicious, fall of the bone, ribs, and some sweet and sour chicken, plus corn on the cob. Crista cut up a watermelon. We ate dinner with Crista and her family and also Matt's parents. Following dinner the rest of the family began to arrive for dessert and the "Show." Unfortunately, Nick's family was unable to make it because he is in quarantine. He scheduled a colonoscopy for Tuesday. This required a Covid.19 test, and then he can't go anywhere until after his procedure.

Matt's mom asked Matt, "How long is your fireworks show?" Matt: "About an hour." Jana: "An hour--Stadium of Fire isn't even an hour." Matt: "I add commentary."

Whenever we get a lot of family together, inevitably there's a lot of love, fun and always a little bit of drama. The drama happened between Oli and Doyeon. Doyeon accidently hit Oli in a tender place, and Oli, used to Finn doing it on purpose, got angry and pushed Doyeon off the trampoline, then, probably realizing that was not a good reaction, he promptly burst into tears. It took him a while to get over it. Luckily, both came out unscathed by the incident.

At the house:

Ruby--so happy to be having a party

Adrienne, Ila, Greta and Finn

Dojin

Ila. She wanted to be pushed but "not very high"

Yuna pushing Greta

Hyeji

I think this was before "the incident"
Nate, Oli, Yuna and Doyeon

Dojin and Finn. Dojin finally got Finn to share
some poppers

Bridget

Cait and Dojin

Matt gave us a fabulous show, as usual. The first firework was a homemade one that he labeled "The Cannon." It looked dangerous. He had built it in a long cardboard tube.
We were all pretty scared until he started shooting it off. See the video here:

Matt's homemade "Cannon"

Gunnar was in heaven the whole evening because Uncle Matt let him help shoot off the fireworks.
The rest of the fireworks were spectacular.

At the church:

Jordan, Jennie, Caitlyn and Nate

Dojin

Yuna and Ruby

Ruby and Greta

Crista and Bridget

Ruby

Ruby, Crista and Bridget (Dojin)

Doyeon, Yuna and Ruby

Hyeji and Dan

Oli and Grandma

Grandpa with Bridget

Earlier in the week Roy was able to attend one of Oli's baseball games. He said he's fun to watch because he scores a lot of points for his team.
We found out that he IS willing to miss a game for camping and boating as he's invited on our next camping trip.

On the way home from the fireworks show, we were treated to a beautiful "Buck" moon. I guess there was an eclipse sometime in the night, but we missed it. There were also fireworks going on all around, so the show didn't end until we hit our beds.

The Come Follow Me program has been a blessing in my life. I loved reading about Alma this month. Alma said,
(Alma 29:1) O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

Alma had been visited by an angel and it changed the course of his life. He in turn desired to give that same gift to others.

I read an article that I really liked: Alma's desire

We have seen lately with all the protests and riots that we need to be vigilant to protect the freedoms that we enjoy because of the country in which we live. We especially need to protect our right to worship as we choose. We can be protected spiritually in these hard times by following our living prophet, President Russel M. Nelson. He also wants us to share our testimonies and fight for the things we believe in. We are so blessed to live where we live and to have such a wonderful family and extended family. We are blessed to have the knowledge of a Savior and what His sacrifice means for us now and hereafter.

A few more 4th of July pictures:

This is a themed garden, across the street from Crista's house.
The man who lives here is a university professor
that teaches horticulture or something like that.
He does a different theme every year in his
front yard