Growing up the 4th of July was one of my all time favorite holidays. When I was really young I remember going up to Eager to see my mom's parents and all her brothers and sisters would be there with all of their kids. There were horses in the back with a big barn that I always admired. My grandpa owned a lot of land and I remember thinking how cool it was to spend time in Eager just hanging out and having fun. At the young age of 3 I was riding horses, with my dad of course but not long after that I was riding on my own. I remember my favorite horse was named Peanut. He was a beautiful brown horse and he was fast. I loved to make him run up and down the corral in the back. It was so fun playing in the fields with all of my cousins. My mom has 6 in her family with her being the youngest so there were plenty of cousins to play and hang out with.
On the 4th there is always a parade and candy is thrown to everyone. It is so fun to run out and fight for the candy. Then that evening there is a firework show that is way better than the ones here in Mesa and as I got old enough to date I learned that there is country dancing down by the rodeo grounds that is fun to go to. I vaguely remember watch my mom country dance and yes she was dang good. She grew up in Eager and that is what you did. It was always fun to watch her move out on the dance floor.
Even as a teenager I still enjoyed going to Eager and hanging out with cousins and meeting boys from down in the valley from all over and hanging out with them also. I remember one of my guy cousins meeting a cute girl at the country dance and while they were dancing finding out that they were cousins. It really freaked him out because he had thought that she was really cute. That was one of the draw backs, Our family grew up there and therefore we are related to most of the people that live there. Not so much now because alot of the family members have either passed away or moved away.
While I was dating Ethan I found out that his grandpa grew up in Eager and that he spent many times in Eager with his family. I of course immediately found out that we were not related and was so relieved because I was crazy about him. His grandpa actually knew my family fairly well and so it was an immediate connection with Ethan's grandpa and even now I love to here the stories he tells me about his life in Eager. Ethan and I spend alot of our vacations now with our kids at his grandpas cabin for the 4th and other little get aways. I love passing this tradition on to my little girls and they seem to love it as much as I did.
This is the 1st year in a while that we have not been on the 4th. I am getting quite big and uncomfortable and didn't think that the 3 1/2 hour drive would treat me to well. So for this year we will make a memories here in our home. We do have some sparklers for the kids (another perk about Eager- driving into New Mexico to get cool fireworks!) So sparklers it will be with some homemade ice cream after dinner!
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