The Neighborhood Parties On!

Every Fourth of July our neighborhood has a BBQ. We also have BBQs all summer long, but this is one with a purpose. The purpose? To eat more, visit longer, laugh louder and light more fireworks than should be allowed. This year's turnout was much smaller than usual because of all the neighbors who decided to spend time with their families on the 4th. The nerve.

Our teen boy population was well represented.

The unspoken rules for the usual neighborhood gatherings are as follows:

1. Bring your own meat
2. Bring something to share

However, this was a special occasion where the rules were changed to:

1. Bring a few dollars and Dan will work his magic on some chicken and brisket.
2. Bring something made with potatoes or watermelon

Number two usually works out great - the neighborhood brain waves generally work it so that some people bring various salads, some bring dessert, you get the idea. This BBQ was the exception...I have never seen so many potato foods! Potato Salad, Funeral Potatoes (we live in Utah, people, it's inevitable) & chips took up the majority of the food table by far. And more watermelon than could be consumed by a small village in a third-world country. There was also a tasty pasta dish that Marci's mom brought and the most yummy avocado/tomato/cilantro-type dip (THANK YOU NANCY!!) I have ever laid taste buds on. GaeLynn and I were ready to secretly transport the dip into her kitchen and indulge, but used our better judgment and left about one-chip-scoop-full so someone else could have a taste. Marci made creamy vanilla homemade ice cream, too.

Oh, and there was plenty of water to drink...

When it came time for fireworks, we had the usual arsenal of smoke and flame. It was beautiful. Some people really, really wanted to like sparklers, but the sparklers wouldn't stop doing that sparkle thing.
All in all, I think the night could be measured as a grand success!

God Bless America!