Independence Day

As many of you know, and even for those that do not, the 4th of July is a BIG, HUGE deal for my side of the family, especially my dad. For the past 20 years, the Moody family has put on a monstrous party. I mean HUGE. It takes my parents three to four weeks to get ready for this enormous gathering. And that is with help. What is awesome about this Moody tradition is that it all started when I was 7 and we had 9 people, including the four Moody's, at my parents land (we did not even have a house built at that time). We popped fireworks and ate food from a cooler. In fact, I bet there are still char marks on the concrete under the house from that year. Well, from there it certainly has grown. As of last year, the most attendance we have ever had was 125 people, which is nothing to be upset about and we were even impressed with that number at the time. Well, I do not know if it was because of the 4th being on Friday or due to gas prices and people not traveling but I am proud and a little impressed to say that attendance this year was just a bit under 200 people. Here are some pictures of the line and please remember, it is not the entire line!
In fact, the running joke of the day was that my parents were feeding Abilene that night. My mother kept saying that Dad was not in charge of the invitation list next year. He just kept grinning and loved every minute. Mom also, while calm and not worrying too much, said she kept thinking about the story of Jesus feeding all the people with just a little fish and bread and how she was praying that all their food would just stretch and stretch. (And I am happy to say it did!) Here is one happy girl that attended the party with a smile and hungry stomach. Love you Tay-Tay!! Another awesome thing was that my dad was interviewed by the Abilene Reporter News to find out his tips on how to put on a great fireworks show. The whole article was great but I must admit my favorite part was when Dad was quoted saying that he suggests not using these things to light the firecrackers called "punks" because they are hard to keep lit. Instead, he recommends using . . . a blow torch. You would have to know my Dad but that is the perfect example of Clark Moody. Just go for the blow torch. That is great advise. You can't make this stuff up! Here is Pop with the torch and some other pictures of him in his prime blowing things up and playing with fire. (He probably wouldn't want me to be typing this but during the fireworks show, he actually blew up that torch. I am pretty sure that he lost some arm hairs over that blow up. However, you would never know it because the show must go on! He just kept rocking on like nothing. That's Dad!!!)
Another thing that was new and handy this year was the road blockers, wagon wheel benches (that Dad designed and built himself) and putting green. My father has projects going on all the time and this is the latest addition to the property. My brother-in-law is a jailer here in town and he borrowed the road blockers and cones for traffic control. When Abilene comes to your house, you must have parking accommodations. Otherwise, someone could get hurt (Hello Scott! :-) )
So I decided to help by making a list (that I observed from the pros) for if you want to throw a party for 200 people or Abilene: **Warning: this is not a complete list but I got tired of writing stuff down as there was just WAY too much stuff but this will at least get you started.***

13 briskets

20 tomatoes

8 green peppers

11 onions

8 gallons of ice cream

84 hot dogs and buns

8 sausages

16 cornbread packages

10 pounds red potatoes

12 cucumbers

1 gallon mayo

20 cans of corn

30 ounces of Fritos

8 boxes of pasta salad

18 dozen rolls

30 gallons of tea/lemonade

12 peach cobblers (pictured are eight of the twelve that were cooked)

And the last and most important thing is a WHOLE LOT OF FIREWORKS!!! Before the party, many members of my family gather around and untie the fireworks so they are ready to light when needed. Here is one of the many many boxes that we untied. And the other picture is the finished product of when everything was untied. And no, this is so not all of them. These are just the smaller ones.
The next picture is the trailer of big fireworks that Dad lays out in the field. My dad means business!!!
And these are all of those fireworks placed out strategically in the field. After 20 years, my father has it down. Sprinklers in the field in case of fires, buckets of water in case of fires and extra blow torches to make fires. What more do you need? The show lasts more than an hour and even though I know I am biased, I think it is the best in Abilene and competes (okay stomps/kills/tramples) with the competition around town. Love you Mom and Dad and thanks for putting on a great show and party every year!!!And, if you were the 12 people that did not come this year, make sure to put it in your calendar now and come next year because, of course, you missed out on a great time. But not to worry, you can guarantee another one come July 4th. Let's try and beat 200 next year!!! (Somewhere across town my father just busted out in a big grin and my mother is looking for that invitation list and a match . . . ).