Since the Fourth of July was on a Sunday this year, our celebrations were a bit more subdued than usual. However, we still invited the missionaries over for lunch after church. I made the usual hamburgers and potato salad, chips and dip and a vegetable platter. There was also watermelon, and our red, white and blue drinks from Family Fun magazine. The first couple didn't work out exactly right. I poured the drink in too fast, and they just turned a beautiful purple color. But the rest really did stay separated for quite a while. We don't use ice cubes ever, the water usually comes out pretty cold from our tap, but these drinks needed them to be able to work. You have to pour the different colors onto the ice cubes, not directly into the other liquids, to keep them separated. And now Alexandra and Noah always want what she calls "cold rocks" in their drink. "It doesn't taste good warm, Mom!"
Sophie helped me set and decorate the table really pretty. We used my Gmunder Keramik red swirly plates, she folded some red napkins very prettily and put them in the center of the plates, and she sprinkled some confetti I had made using my star punches and red, blue and silver cardstock onto the white tablecloth. I am so sad we didn't take any pictures of any of it. :(
Originally we had invited the missionaries over for 3, but they called and explained that they needed to be at a special fireside in Zurich to meet their new mission president. Could they come an hour earlier? Yes, but yikes! We better hurry and get going! I guess in all the hubbub of running around to get everything ready, we forgot to record any of the festivities.
I always enjoy getting to the new missionaries a bit better when they come to our house. The kids enjoy giving them silly nicknames. These two Elders were no exception. Elder Bond was almost too easy. He's Elder James Bond forever, now. Elder Piscon was changed to Elder Pistol, who didn't quite understand at first what was going on because he is from Romania. No, Elder they aren't mispronouncing your name because they don't know how to do it correctly, they have changed it on purpose. But once he understood, he thought it was funny. I have no idea where or how these tradition started, but they do it with pretty much every missionary that walks through our front door. And somehow it doesn't diminish the Elders authority with them, either. They always listen to every word of the spiritual message the Elders share, and ask pretty insightful questions. Of course, they also throw in a few silly ones once in a while, just to keep it real. ;)
Anyway, there was just time for dessert after all the chatting and sharing. Two of the kids had wanted me to make brownies for the base of the flag cake, but Chris thought that sounded disgusting. No one else cared that much, so I made a pound cake, but in a regular 9×13 pan, and just watched it bake so it didn't overcook. I think it was the best Flag cake yet. I also used fresh raspberries instead of strawberries this time, along with the blueberries. The raspberries were definitely easier to put on the whipped cream, but I think the kids preferred the taste of the strawberries. The raspberries were either "too fuzzy" or "too crunchy", meaning the seeds, I guess. So next year, it will finally be the Flag cake to end all flag cakes. haha!
Happy birthday, America! Wish we could join you in person for the celebrations, but school just doesn't let out that early here. 🙁