Criminal Fame

Last weekend my dad's family came for a reunion. It was tons of fun - we had lots of activities scheduled but mostly just sat around and talked late into each night. I guess that's what family is...people you love to just be with. Anyway, Saturday morning all the men folk went out to Blacks Creek to shoot guns.

My dad's sweet set-up. Seeing this picture reminds me of Imperial Britain - when the soldiers would be out in India's deserts playing cricket or something. In the movies they always have big, white tents. Anyway

That's Joey in the orange. My mom teased him - "You wore that so you wouldn't get shot, right?"

The guys said they had fun. Too much fun. Apparently - illegal fun! Seriously. About 10 minutes before they were done, the sheriff showed up with a Channel 6 news crew and started busting everyone for trespassing on private property. We watched Channel 6 news for 2 days before we saw the story - and of course, not Hudson family appearance. In the general public's defense - people have been shooting up at Blacks Creek for years, and there were no "No Trespassing" signs posted. That'll change soon, but we're mostly sad that our family reunion wasn't documented by our crimes...better luck next year.

"This is our Independence Day!"

Well, my favorite time of year has come and gone. I LOVE the 4th of July. It's a family holiday, a community holiday - full of a sense of hope and honor and pride different from any other time of year.


This year was full of new adventures and memory-making-moments. Joey and I (despite getting called to the Elder's Quorum Presidency and Primary, respectively) are the ward activities committee. And apparently, it's "tradition" (which translates too: they started it last year and want to continue it despite the lack of budget) to have a pancake breakfast and bike parade for the kids. I love traditions, but sometimes I think what we call traditions in our church are evil traps that people fall into that keep me from enjoying my favorite holiday! (And next I'll tell you how I really feel!)

Allright, I'm calm now. But seriously, here are some pictures of the fun things that filled the rest of our weekend:

This is Joey and James chillin' like villians in the darkness. We decided James should be going to P. Diddy's White party instead of Melba's fireworks!

This was part of the "half-way through" display. Joey said taking pictures of fireworks is hard. I said: "Tough cookies, I want some on our blog!" and because he loves me...he kept taking them!

Joey and I went with our friends, James and Rebecca Starr, to Melba to watch the fireworks. We took a picnic and Joey took pictures of the fireworks. He also took some video, but it's chuck-full of all of us being, like: "Holy Crap!" or "D*#@" or "Shut Up" everytime a firework impressed us. That isn't on here b/c that kind of language isn't very impressive! :) I think one of the best parts was all the little kids around us that got to stay up for the fireworks. I mean, come on! Staying up late when you're a kid is the best...and you don't even get to do that on Christmas, so 4th of July is definitely a superior holiday!

July 5th is Boise's Car Festival. Every year car lovers bring their rides to the fairgrounds and mix and mingle with people who love to drool over their cars as much as they do. There is every kind of car imaginable - from rat-rods to the new 2009 Dodge Challenger.

There were tons of Model T Fords (it's their 100 year anniversary this year) and there was a V-8 powered chainsaw. Crazy. Ray and Jarom (Joey's dad and brother) came along and we all had a good time telling Jarom which car he should buy in order to be like the Fonz and have the most hot chicks.

Some of the Woodland boys checking out - or drooling over - potential rides. Joey just said: "Hey...we weren't drooling!"

Joey's buddy, Craig, entered his Bronco that he's been working on into the car show. Saturday night, everyone takes their cars downtown for a HUGE cruise. Downtown effectively shuts down and everyone watches the cars go by for hours. Joey and I went last year when we were just friends. It's amazing to think how much has changed in one year!!!!! This year, Craig invited us to cruise along with him. Joey and I sat in the back seat of Craig's Bronco and waved like pagaent queens. Well, I waved like a pagaent queen...Joey and Craig just chilled.

This was our cruise chauffeur, Craig, as viewed from "the backseat." He has a white Bronco. That's all I know about it. If Joey was writing this he'd tell you about other things, techical things, things I know nothing of. :)

Well, that was our Independence Day weekend. God Bless the U.S.A. and thanks to all our men and women in uniform (Craig, Abe, Tami...) for working so hard and keeping us safe. Your lives make our lives possible and we're grateful, truly grateful.

Love, The Woodland's