4th of July

I learned this year that I had never really experienced a real fourth of July. In Stockton, CA it pretty much just consisted of a day that ended in fireworks, not much more to it. In Utah County however it is an unmistakable event. From large families all over the place dressed in red white and blue (and often all the girls in one family with matching outfits, and all the boys with matching outfits) to the lack of being able to see grass anywhere because any and every spot of grass has been reserved with blankets and tarps to view parades or firework displays. We had a little fun, even though we didn't quite get into it as much as everyone else in the area seemed to. I did try to find an outfit with red white and blue in it, just so I could fit in, but really just was dressed like any other day. The Leckies came over for a little 4th of July BBQ preceding the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire concert. Well it wasn't exactly a BBQ, since there was no actual BBQing that went on, but it was just as tasty, maybe even more so. Then we went up on the hill behind out apartment to watch the fireworks, fortunately the hill is not well known so there were a few groups of people up there, but still plenty of room. It was pretty awesome just because we had an excellent view of the valley, the mountains in the background, plus it was a little stormy, with thunder, a little lightening, and some light rain. So we sat there watching the stadium in the distance waiting for the fireworks to start. We waited and waited. Finally they started, went for about 5 minutes then ended. We thought it was an unusually short show so decided to wait a little to see if they were going to start again. They did! Here is a picture of us with the Leckies.




Here's a really good rib recipe. It's super yummy and I made it for the 4th of July dinner. I got it from Creative Cooking The Costco Way.

Classic Baby Back Ribs

3-4 lbs pork baby back ribs (2-3 racks)
1 cup BBQ sauce

RUB
1/2 T garlic powder
1/2 T onion powder
1/2 T salt
1/2 T dry mustard
1/2 T ground black pepper
1/2 T ground white pepper
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup paprika

1. The night before cooking the ribs, prepare and apply the rub. Simply mix all the rub ingredients together. Rub mixture all over the ribs, then wrap them in heavy plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
2. Grill ribs over indirect heat on covered grill for 90 minutes (or in a 350 F oven).
3. Base with bbq sauce and cook 30 minutes longer, or until the meat is very tender. Makes 4 servings.

Here's a picture of me at 32 weeks.

So far the pregnancy has been going really well but I can't wait for the baby to get here already! Summer is my least favorite season and I'm not looking forward to the heat. We've been lucky in Utah so far because the weather has been mostly nice and cool with a few days in the 90s. Just the other night we had a thunderstorm and it was super awesome. I think it was really close because it was the loudest thunderstorm I've ever heard and of course Jeff slept like a baby through it.
As you can see, my belly is getting way big and I still have 8 more weeks! I can't imagine what my belly will look like then.