The Ward Newsletter

We had a great 4th of July, very full! We started things off Friday with seeing the Hot Air Balloon launch down in Provo. We debated between that and the parade. We hadn't done this before and the parade is always long, hot, and very crowded, so we opted for the earlier, cooler activity! We LOVED it! We got up around 5:15 and drug the kids out of bed. Chris's mom came with us as well. We got to Provo HS around 6:15, most of the balloons were mostly filled. There were 18 balloons in total, everything from a pig, Smokey the Bear, Stars and Stripes, and even a fall one with leaves on it. The kids loved watching them get almost full, and how the people pull on the strings to get them tipped up the right way. After all of them were full, they started lifting off, 2 or 3 at a time. It was so cool to see them all up so close and then drift slowly into the beautiful blue sky. It was a little overcast so the temp was perfect. We had such a great time!! I'm definitely glad we chose this before we head out of UT for a while.






The hot air balloon thing made me think of 4th of July's past, where me and my sisters and brothers, and my dad would go to the Provo 10k and sign the runners up. I don't know how we got signed up for this job, my dad knew somebody running it or something, but it's such a great memory for me! We'd get up suuuuper early and go down to the stadium, get the runners checked in and give them their numbers, see them off, and then mosy around til the parade started. We'd get a free t-shirt out of it, but even better were the fun talks and laughing, dancing to music from loud speakers, and maybe even a milkshake on the way home. Ahhh, fun memories!

After the balloons we went to Jim's Restaurant for breakfast. It was so tasty! Chris got the "Jim's Breakfast", and maybe put a 1/4 dent in it. It was HUGE! The kids stayed good the whole trip, and while at the restaurant practiced their spoons on the noses technique. Very fun.



We vegged out at home for the afternoon, the kids took a nap, I packed a little, etc. Then we went to our friend Duff and Nichole Sutherlands for a BBQ and fireworks. Our friend Doug Hall from High School was in town from California, we haven't seen him in years. I worked with Doug at Zuka Juice, he was good friends with the guys too. We chatted with him, the kids jumped in a bounce house Duff has, we had awesome burgers and chips, home-made rootbeer, the works. Duff had purchased the XL package of fireworks from Costco, and we did about 200 sparklers I think. Duff even had a few not so honestly procurred launching fireworks from WA state. Very loud! Duff and Nichole live just west of Thanksgiving Pt., they launched the big fireworks directly across the street! It was a fabulous view and a great show. I think they lasted about 30 minutes! We had a great time, catching up with old friends and soaking in the patriotic spirit.









We had such a great day, and are so grateful to have a reason to celebrate such a day. We're so lucky to live in this wonderful country with all the freedoms we have. Every time I think about complaining about food prices I think of my parents while in New Zealand paying 8$ a gallon for gas and around 12$ a lb for chicken breasts. We're soooo lucky here! So I'm going to try and not take things for granted, especially my kids and my wonderful husband, and all of the beautiful family, friends, and things that the Lord has blessed me with.

Happy Birthday America!