You know you're busy when...

... you almost miss the 4th of July entirely.

No, really, I completely forgot about it. In years past, my girls had darling coordinating outfits, I'd planned fun activities, we'd hit a parade or festival. I would have watched 1776 (yes, it's a musical and I LOVE it). I would have felt a little patriotism.

This year we nearly missed it all.

On July 2nd, some friends called and invited us to swim and barbecue with them on the 3rd. This was my reminder of the coming holiday. Then I found out our ward was having a little activity (kind of thrown together and not well organized) at the church, after which the little town would hold its fireworks show, which we could watch from the church yard. Phew! That took care of the fireworks. It turned out to be a wonderful evening, moreso because I didn't even think about a thing ahead of time! Wow, that never happens for me. (Smidget kept telling us "We needa tell da Bishop. Where was Mickey and da dwagon?"--I think she expected something akin to Disneyland's Fantasmic when we told her we were going to see fireworks. Sorry, kid, even the Bishop can't fix that one.)

On the actual day, D and I took the girls for their free personal pizzas (earned by reading in the library's summer program) then looked at refrigerators and blinds, a necessary purchase we'll be making later this week. We had a simple barbecue with D's parents, which turned out nice, and enjoyed the cool 90 degree weather. (This week we're heading to 108. Eek!)

In case you're wondering, things are moving right along. We are almost entirely packed--we made awesome progress this weekend. There is a little doubt creeping into my mind as to whether we will actually close (and therefore move) on Thursday, since we were supposed to sign loan documents on Saturday and we still hadn't gotten word from the bank. I'll keep you apprised of our progress, but we're hoping all will still fall into place. Time will tell.

Happy July 4th! I hope yours was fabulous--and memorable. :)