3rd Annual Fourth in Utah

Ethan's robot class got out at 3:30 on Friday. I hadn't realized that was butting up to Fourth of July weekend. We planned on taking our annual trip with Matt and Nicole this year, and when I realized we couldn't leave till Saturday morning, we weren't sure if it was worth the trip. At the last minute we decided to go up right after his class, and stay the night in Beaver. Aubrie's best friend ended up having her birthday party that Friday, also, so as soon as the party was over, we grabbed her and Ethan and headed out of town. The ride up was a little congested, and then we realized we would be losing an hour. That put us in Beaver at midnight. We all crashed when we got to the hotel, and were up at 8:00 to get ready and eat before we headed to Provo.

Day 1

We got to Provo around 11:30. We went to the Provo temple grounds and laid on the grass for a bit, before we met Matt and Nicole at the BYU bookstore. The boys bought Jimmer Jersey's and we spent a large portion of the time in the toy section. We got Subway in the Cougareat, and then we walked down to Heleman Halls. We checked out the new Cannon center, and walked around the Cafeteria. Wow!! That place has had a complete makeover, and the food looked a lot better. One thing I didn't like about it, was that they didn't have the long cafeteria style tables. Those were the the best. You could get your whole Ward at one of those. Those were some of my best memories. Our Ward kind of had our own table, and we would spend a huge portion of time eating and talking, and having a good time! Ethan and Boston were in heaven though, thinking of how they could eat whatever they wanted when they came there.

After we toured the Cannon center, we walked over to our dorms. Mine were locked up, and so we just peeked in the window. The common area now has a pool table and Foosball tables. That would have been nice to have when we were there. Of course, there wouldn't had been room for all our many rounds of Ultimate Spoons! On our way out of Heleman Halls, we walked by two girls entering Hinkley Hall (the hall that housed the guys in my Freshman Ward). Ben asked if Aubrie could go with them to check out the dorms. Aubrie wanted me to go with her. Luck would have it, they were on the same floor as the guys from my Freshman ward, and luck would have it further that their room was the room of my Freshman boyfriend! LOL I couldn't believe it. What were the chances? The rooms had been redone, and now have sinks and a vanity in them. Aubrie thought the dorm was so cool. She said it wasn't what she expected dorms would be like. She thought it would be like one big open room with bunk beds. She got super excited and I think is now a little pumped about going to BYU! After our tour, we walked back up to campus and went through the library, before we left. I always love walking the campus!

After BYU, we went to the hotel and checked in. We stayed in the newer one right by the Courtyard. The rooms are nicer and there is free breakfast, however, the pool is awful. Ben called the front desk and asked if we could go to the Courtyard to swim. They said it wouldn't be a problem. They all know us, since we are there so often. So now we have the best of both worlds; Nicer room and the nicer pool! A few minutes after checking in, we got a call from Matt that their car was having problems. Ben found Matt a rental car, and he took him to get it. Their transmission had gone out, and so they would have to wait through the weekend before they could have it worked on. So I stayed in the room and chilled with the kids while Ben helped out. They played video games and watched TV while I dove into my book, I had been reading on the car ride up!

After chilling in the room for a bit, we grabbed dinner at Wingers. The Stadium of Fire was that night, so it was a perfect night to go, since it's away from the Stadium! After dinner, Matt and Nicole met us at the hotel and then we went out on the lawn and grabbed a spot for the Fireworks. The kids had fun playing their DS's and Ipods, and throwing a ball around. Then a family showed up with glow sticks and gave some to our kids. The kids had fun combining their sticks to make hula hoops, jump ropes, etc. The firework show was great as always, but just as the finale started the sprinklers came on. It was quite the site watching several families frantically collecting their blankets, etc . After the fireworks, it was close to 10:30. We went back to the hotel, and everyone went to bed, while I tried to finish my book.

Day 2

The next morning we slept in and then packed up and headed up to Matt and Nicole's hotel, and then we carpooled up to Lagoon. The kids have never been and we thought it would be fun for them to do with their cousins. The ride part of the park wasn't too packed. The kids had a blast riding the roller coasters together. They even got to ride Wicked a few times. One thing I like about Lagoon is that a lot of the roller coasters have a lower height limit. You only have to be 46 inches to ride Wicked. We took turns watching Sophia and Lacey, so we could all ride the rides. Around 1:00, it was getting really hot so we went to the water park. It was PACKED!!!! It was nice to cool off, but it was so annoyingly busy! We were done after about an hour and a half! The kids had done all they could without rented tubes, and I was ready to get back in the shade that the main park provided. As we were walking out of the park, they announced that the water park was at full capacity. No wonder we were annoyed with it! We spent a couple more hours in the main park, and the kids got one more Wicked ride in. We left around 5:30.

It was such a great time for the cousins!

Day 3

Monday was the Fourth. We planned on meeting up with the family for the parade, but we slept in. We still got up and ready, and raced over there for the last hour of it. The kids had fun seeing the family, and I had fun catching up with Julie. I'm not the biggest fan of the Provo parade, only because it's always HOT, and it just isn't that exciting to me. So it was nice to sit by Julie and get to talk and catch up.

The kids had fun hanging with their cousins. Boston loved when anything BYU related came by, and Ethan was entranced with anything Military.

After the Parade we headed back to our car, and since we were late to the parade our parking spot was by Pioneer park. When we passed the park, we stopped and let the kids play while we waited for traffic to lighten up. I mentioned to Ben how funny it was that we lived one block from that park when we were first married, but had never been there. Now, 15 years later we finally went and 4 kids later. The kids had fun playing. The older ones loved climbing on top of the slide and Sophia loved the fireman pole!

Around 12;30 we headed over to Dave and Marilyn's for the family BBQ. The kids had fun swimming with their cousins. We then headed back to the hotel to rest up a bit before fireworks. We met Matt and Nicole at Cafe Rio for some dinner, and then we headed up to Pleasant Grove to Jim and Eliece's for our own fireworks. Ben picked up two huge boxes before we went up there. All the cousins had a blast lighting off fireworks. (no pun intended) It even was raining at one point, but that didn't stop them one bit. As I sat there on the lawn talking and watching the kids have fun lighting fireworks, I saw my life come full circle, as I flashed back to me and my cousins lighting off fireworks, as the adults sat in their chairs on the lawn and talked. I remembered how much those memories meant to me, and realizing how much they will mean to my kids, brought me so much joy at that moment. The cousins were laughing and joking around, and Ethan was so excited to be able to light off fireworks on his own, he didn't even stop to watch them go off before he raced off to get another one. At the very end, Boston lit a firework that had a short fuse, and burnt his finger a bit. Once I got him fixed up and we were walking to the fireworks, he said, "This is the worst day!" I asked him if he didn't have fun lighting fireworks and playing with his cousins. He said, "No this has been awesome"! We watched the Pleasant Grove fireworks from a grassy field nearby. It was another great show, and once again we got the nice surprise of sprinklers! After fireworks, we headed back to our hotel. We didn't get in until 11:30.

Day 4

The next morning we were all ready to head back to Arizona, when Ben surprised us with an extra day. Everyone was excited. We started our morning with Bridal Veil Falls. The hike is always fun. There are a few "scary" parts that the kids always get excited about. After the hike, they played at the bottom pool for about a half an hour, while Ben and I put our feet in . There was a log that the kids walked to get from the bridge to some rocks at the bottom of the falls, and Sophia had fun going over that. She did it over and over. It was natures balance beam for her!

After Bridal Veil we met Matt and Nicole at the BYU bowling alley. While we were waiting for our lanes, we spent our time playing air hockey and other games in their arcade. The kids all pulled their tickets together and got a cheap plastic tipped dart board! We all had fun bowling. Sophia got excited every time she knocked down pins. It was nice and relaxing as the kids all helped Sophia and were competent enough to bowl for themselves. Aubrie beat me (no big surprise, since I'm the WORST bowler). She was happy to come in second. After bowling we got some Jamba Juices and sat on the lawn. EFY was in session so their were high schoolers everywhere. As we were sitting on the grass, I noticed I still had a few boxes of Pop-Its in my purse. I pulled a few out and threw them at a group of EFY kids as they walked by. It scared them, and the kids thought that was hilarious. So they spent a good half hour doing that. A student nearby was watching the whole thing, and was laughing his head off. After our Pop-Its adventure, we strolled over to the new FSLC. The building and grounds were beautiful. They have a nice water feature in the middle of the courtyard. The kids were walking along the wall and the next thing we know Ethan and Sophia are playing in it!!!! Ethan said he fell in, and Sophia had nothing to say. I think if I was a kid a nice cool water feature would sound like a nice solution to a hot, sweaty day!

After BYU, we headed up to our friends, the Godowns. He was our pool builder, and we have all been friends ever since. It was nice to visit them and see their house and kids. Their house had all these raspberry bushes, and Aubrie was in heaven. She asked if we could grow them and I just laughed. I kept thinking how nice it would be to live in Utah, until WINTER!!! Every summer we want to move up, and then we visit in December and change our minds! I'm thinking a summer house would be a nice compromise:)

After our visit, we headed back to Provo. Once in Provo we did a progressive dinner of sorts. Not where you go to a different place for each course, but took each person to where they wanted to eat. Boston got a burrito and cinnamon twists from Taco Bell. Then we took Aubrie to Panda for Orange Chicken. Then Ethan got a hamburger Happy Meal at McDonald's. Then we drove Sophia to In & Out for a burger and a strawberry shake. The kids felt extra special when we do that! Ben and I got Cafe Rio take out! We took all our food into the hotel lobby and ate and watched TV!

Wednesday we left Provo around 9:30, after a short stop at BYU to return a football. The drive back was nice an uneventful! I'm grateful for no car troubles, and for another great Fourth of July with my family! One day they will all be grown with their families, and I am grateful for all the wonderful memories I can make with them now. Hopefully they will be happy memorable traditions they will want to incorporate into their own families someday!