The Carstens: 4th of July

This 4th of July the family headed down to Portland to spend the extended weekend with Nate's parents. (Nate got both Monday AND Tuesday off!) Our first day in town was spent apartment hunting. Dave and Linda (Nate's parents) are looking to downsize out of their current house, but before they get into a new house they want to do a bit of apartment living. This is a little difficult as Linda requires an apartment with no steps due to frequently using a wheelchair, but we were successful! We found a really nice apartment in a pretty area for a reasonable price. Now we just need to sell the house. If you're in the Portland area and looking to buy, let me know!

The next day was also a busy day as we spent almost six hours canning asparagus and making strawberry jam. The start of the day was pretty chaotic as we had five people (plus Abby!) trying to do two huge projects with one project (asparagus) not having been done before. We soon got a system figured out and cans and jars began rolling off the assembly line. I'm looking forward to tasting our endeavours in a couple weeks.

The 4th itself was pretty low-key. Originally, the plan was to head over to Vancouver, WA to see the big fireworks show that they put on. However, we soon found out that the show had changed a bit and was no longer a barge show over the water but in a park. After a bit of discussion we changed our plans and had a little fireworks display in the back yard. My big thing was wanting Abby to see fireworks, but I didn't care how big they were so long as she got to see some. So off to the fireworks booth! This was actually a first for me as I'd never been in a fireworks booth before. Growing up my Mom was not a fan of fireworks so other than the sparklers I don't recall us ever getting any. I do remember a few block parties where fireworks were lit but I assume they were purchased by another family and we just joined in. In later years we just went to the displays that the parks had. So upon going into the fireworks booth I realized that I had no idea what each item did. I knew the sparklers and saw a few of those snap pops (or whatever they're called - the ones that 'pop' when you throw them on the ground) but other than that I was clueless. I finally asked a worker-bee for his recommendation on items that had colors but little to no sound (trying to not damage Abby's ears), and was directed to a package of an assortment of fireworks. Holy hannah! These things are expensive! One assortment and a few sparklers and we're $40 poorer. Thank goodness we didn't spend the HUNDREDS of dollars that some packages cost. Ouch!

After returning to the house we had a bar-b-que with Nate's Grandparents, Parents, Scott (a friend from high school), and Stephanie (Scott's fiancee). Then it was time to light the fireworks! Below are an assortment of pictures taken during our fun fourth celebration. All in all a really nice afternoon and a really enjoyable first fourth for Abby! Enjoy the pictures!