Our 4th

Our Independence Day festivities spanned across several days, thanks to all of the multi-day activities that this awesome city offers. Our celebrations started bright and early on Friday the 1st while we watched hot air balloons soaring over the valley and ate our hearts out at an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast fundraiser. One day, I will go up in one of those balloons... #bucketlist

I can't believe that we lived a 3 minute drive away from the balloon launch site for 2 years and never went to watch. Lazy bums, we are. Now it's a 20 minute drive!

Another activity we checked out for the first time was the Colonial Heritage Festival. It was kind of cool to see so many people dressed in colonial costumes and to watch/explore all of the aspects of colonial life, from carving fiddles, to homemade soap, to witnessing a printing press in action. There were a lot of fun kids activities, but Nicole wasn't quite old enough for any of them yet.

^^^Frontier-style campsite. The actors went about their daily activities and even snoozed in the cots.

Nicole loved watching the Freedom Days Parade on the morning on the 4th. She danced every time a marching band went by and clapped when she saw horses. We were so thankful to have a spot in the shade, and that the day was intermittently cloudy. Also, Nicole turns so red when she gets warm!

The evening consisted of a couple different block parties... at the first one Nicole had her first experience with water balloons (and dropped them on her feet almost every time, LOL) At the other one with Doug's family and their neighbors, we stuffed ourselves and there were mini "tractor" rides and candy cannon launches and plenty of fireworks. Nicole clapped every time a firework went off... until we got to the aerial rockets. Those were a little too loud for her liking. Maybe we should invest in some noise-canceling muffs for future babies...

The cool thing about Utah is that you can go up on the mountains and watch fireworks bursting in the air all across the valley. (Yep, dear CA friends, they're legal here.) Our whole drive home on the freeway was lit with people setting off fireworks in the air. One of these years, I just want to sit on the trail by our house that looks out across the valley and watch fireworks from there. It would be simple and awesome, I bet. When kids are older, right? :)

Nicole didn't get to bed until 10. She was exhausted and slept in past 9:30 and it was glorious.

Now for the rest of the photo dump :D

Despite the imperfections, I am thankful for this country. We have been blessed beyond our comprehension, living in a country like America and whatnot. God bless the USA!

4th of July - Kickin' with Carrie Underwood

One of the highlights of my 4th of July was getting to see my very favorite American Idol winner perform at the Stadium of Fire right here in Provo. She really is so gracious and happy, and is always classy with just the right touch of laid-back-country. Plus - she just has an amazing voice. Ah-maze-ing. Really.

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And only in Utah could she sing "Jesus Take the Wheel" ending with "How Great Thou Art" and have such a large round of applause afterwards with everyone stomping their feet. I love that she's Christian and doesn't hide it.

Doug wasn't bopping around too much since he doesn't know any of Carrie's songs. He's not a country fan, but we got free tickets when we bought the new car... so we figured why not?! Plus, I definitely AM a Carrie fan and was singing along with everything.

And here's a shot of the stadium itself, I guess. It's a big event.

Of course, the whole show was fun - between the skydivers, Studio C, the singing, the awesome acrobatic superheros, and the huge fireworks show - but it was fun to see Carrie live.

Aside from Stadium of Fire, I got to eat some awesome food that wasn't BBQ - sweet pulled pork and rice on the 4th of July??!? YES please and thank you! I've had too many hot dogs and hamburgers this summer already. I also walked around all of the shops set up in the Downtown Provo area with Doug, my sisters-in-law, and nephew & niece.

They're just too cute.

And I know I've been saying it a lot recently, but I really do live in a beautiful place. Yes, Utah people are a little crazy sometimes, but Provo is so beautiful. I love having the mountains right next to us and YOU GUYS I'm already getting impatient for fall! Best. Season. Ever. It seems quite a bit closer now that we're on the other side of Independence Day.