4th of July Part 2

I didn't cover our fabulous evening on 4th of July and the awesome fireworks we saw, thus the part 2. After we ate dinner at Uncle Paul and Aunt Penney's house we had a lot of fun just hanging out. The big people played some board games and had a blast. Oh so wonderful cousin Kelsie kept Zoey and Noah entertained pretty much the whole time. She was so good with them and they absolutely soaked up the attention. She played outside with them, let them play on the computer, and best of all taught them how to play Wii. I thought it was so awesome to see her patience with them while trying to teach them. The kids responded so well to her and she was so good to them. I felt lucky too because I got to enjoy time with the grown ups without being bugged by my kiddos. I just can't sing Kelsie's praises enough. She really is awesome and Zoey and Noah absolutely adore her. Noah brings her up almost on a daily basis. Thanks Kelsie for helping my kids have such a great time!

My last 4th shout out goes to my fabulous mother-in-law, Amy. The office she works at is maybe a block or two from where the Stadium of Fire is. The office is upstairs and has a balcony that looks right towards the stadium. We were able to sit up there to watch the fireworks show at the end of the concert at the stadium. We actually were close enough that we could sometimes hear the Jonas Brothers singing during the concert. When they were done the fireworks started and they were so close and so awesome. Of course I didn't really take many pictures because they just don't do justice. The kids were so blown away though and I was pretty excited myself. It really was the best 4th of July fireworks show I have ever seen. I am so glad we were able to spend the 4th in Utah. It was so much fun. Thank you Amy for getting us "front row" seats to the fireworks. We all had a blast!

Oh, yes. One more thing. Thanks for the personal fireworks show on Sunday Chaz! It was a great show and those Harry Potter spells of yours sure were awesome! :)

4th of July

All I can say is that this was maybe the best 4th of July I can remember. The parade was awesome and lots of fun just sitting on the side of the road with family. The quiet afternoon while everyone napped was much needed. The dinner at Gauchay's house was so yummy. The fireworks from the balcony at Grandma Kinney's work were amazing. What a great 4th of July!

I am just so beyond grateful to live in this country. I know it has many things wrong with it but I know I am so much more blessed than so many others in the world. I am thankful to get to be who I want to be and to live my religion freely. I have all the respect in the world for those who made this life possible for me. My heart goes out to all those families with soldiers who are not with them due to deployment, death, or whatever it may be that keeps them away. I can't imagine what it is like and I will forever be grateful for what the great soldiers of the past and present have done for my country. I truly am Proud to Be an American!

(click on the collages to see them bigger and read the captions)

4th of July Eve Festivities

We had such a great day today. We went to one of our favorite wing places for lunch (Wingers) and it was so tasty. After that we met Uncle Paul and Grandpa Kinney at the site they were staking out for us all for the parade tomorrow. I must mention that these Utah people are totally insane. I don't think I could have taken pictures to do justice in showing how many people lined University in Provo. These people are nuts. They all hang out from like 10 in the morning just to get spots for the parade. I have even heard word that fights have broken out before and police sometimes get involved in situations. It's totally crazy. It was quite interesting to witness it all while sitting back at our nice shaded spot that Uncle Paul and Grandpa were so great to get for us all.

We hung out with the family there for a while and then we took the kids down a few blocks to a carnival. It wasn't the most awesome one ever but we did tell the kids we would go. They played in the Spongebob bounce house, bought a few fun things, and got their faces painted. Noah was even so brave and got his picture taken with some Star Wars characters. The picture turned out cute but it will have to wait until we get home to our scanner. We bought treats at 7 Eleven after that and then went back to the parade site for a while. It was a good, fun day and we can't wait for the fun 4th of July things awaiting us tomorrow.No better start to the day than some chocolate milk, a cup of dry cereal, and Disney cartoons on G&G Kinney's huge 50+ inch TV.
Our awesome parade site is right on the corner where this street sign is. Great spot under a huge tree.
Everyone sitting around waiting to throw the stuff out on the public lawn. Can't do it until 3, the police say so.
Noah mesmerized for a while, just watching all the people setting up their spots for the day and night.
No joke, I don't know how many police vehicles were out patrolling making sure NO ONE had their stuff claiming spots until 3 o'clock. It just cracked me up to hear them on their loudspeakers saying "it's not 3 o'clock yet!" They would even pull over and wait for people to actually move their stuff. They were nice enough to finally let people claim their spots a whole 5 minutes early. Didn't see another cop car the rest of the afternoon.
The lady next to us was so nice to give Noah and Zoey a flag. I like nice people!
My pretty girl hangin out on the blanket on the lawn.
I love this one of them waving their flags as though someone were watching them.
More cute kids.Noah was just smitten with the adorable random kitty that came to visit us at our spot for a while. I LOVE this picture with him squatting down and the kitty looking up at him. Too cute!
Awesome Star Wars characters. I love that Noah so quickly conquered his fear of them. Enough to stand amongst the 3 of them and have a picture with them.
Zoey with her firework painted on her face and her pretty halo ribbon thing on her head.
My Noah boy with his awesome blue dragon on his cheek. I honestly had to sway him NOT to want a ladybug painted on his face. He loved his dragon though.
The kids took right to cousin Kelsie. Kelsie was so nice to entertain them. They were instant friends after playing on the air mattress together and especially cuz Kelsie let them play with her phone.

Tuckered Out

Poor kiddos were so exhausted after our long drive. They got in bed and were out in no time at all. How adorable are they sleeping next to each other?! I love my sweet little people.

To Utah We Go

My crazy happy kids when we got in the car EARLY that morning. Don't know what is up with Noah and his hardhat. He saw it as we were going out the door and he just had to wear it. Kids are so silly!

We left at 530 yesterday morning for our long drive to Utah. I was surprised that the kids woke up when we put them in the car and that they were as chipper as could be. It was a great start to a long day. The first 5 hours of the trip were long and difficult. I was dealing with a car sick 3 year old and it was no fun. We were able to hit up a Walmart in Kingman and find him some meds. The rest of the drive was so thankfully puke free. We all really enjoyed our long trip in the car. It really wasn't so bad and the kids did so great. It was fun to let the kids see the changing scenery as we went on and on. I love that they can appreciate the beauty of the world around them. It was a LONG drive but it really did go pretty smoothly. I must note that all the picture below (except the one close up of the Joshua tree) were taken from the moving car. I am excited at how well they ended up turning out. We are so glad to be here in Utah with Grandma and Grandpa Kinney!

The Joshua Tree National Park. This is one of my favorite parts of the drive. The kids thought they were some pretty cool looking trees. There are so many of them!

The only picture the whole drive I had to pull over for. I just had to get a close up of one of these beautiful trees!

Somewhere between Tucson and the Hoover Dam...

The gorgeous mountains approaching the Hoover Dam. I love the mountains thru this area.

One of many sections of the Hoover Dam bypass project, in the works.

The Hoover Dam. I used to have such serious anxiety about going over it. This time around I was just so excited for the kids to see it. We might actually stop at it on our trip home.

I couldn't believe how low the waterline was at the Dam. I love this picture with the white strip on the mountains and the beautiful blue water.

Another HUGE undertaking in the process of building the bypass around the Hoover Dam. It scares me just to see it! The pictures just don't do it justice.

Yet some more gorgeous mountain ranges during our trip. These ones are in the last bit of Arizona we pass thru before entering Utah.

The very cemetery looking neighborhood sign of Grandma and Grandpa Kinney's neighborhood. It so looks like a headstone. The name of the neighborhood even kind of sounds like the name of a cemetery. Anyway, this sign was one of the best of the trip. We are here after 14 hours on the road and we couldn't be happier!