Fourth of July

It's only been a week so I feel ok blogging about the Fourth of July. I love the fourth of July. I love going to parades, having BBQ's, being with friends and family, and I especially love fireworks. I also love the meaning of the Fourth of July and always feel so grateful that I get to live in this amazing country. I got Friday off which was nice. I love paid holidays!!!! I slept in, cleaned the apartment a bit, and then went swimming!! We have a pool by our apartment that our friends Mike and Lisa bought passes to, so we got to use two of their punches and get in a little cheaper than you normally would. I love to swim, so it was great. After we went swimming we went home and got ready to go to the Freedom Festival on Center Street. They pretty much close down Center Street and set up a whole bunch of booths and stuff. We got to see some cool cars and look at other neat things. Then we got to eat some delicious food and then have a funnel cake to finish the night off. The next day, the 4th, we got up and went to the parade. We sat along University Ave. to watch the parade. It was a pretty good spot. It rained a little bit, but we were under a tree so it didn't really get us. The parade was pretty good. After that we went home and just relaxed for a little while until we had a BBQ in the park. We bought giant steaks from Costco that Eric marinated. They were so good. I made crab salad and our friends brough fruit salad and this yummy dessert. Our friend Mike had two of his brothers come along too. It was a good time with great food. After that we went over to Ryan and Amber's house to visit with them for a little while. Some of Ryan's family was in town too so we got to see them. Eric and I weren't sure what we were going to do for Fireworks. Amber said the traffic in Provo gets really bad because of the stadium of Fire. It's a big 4th of July concert celebration. This year the Jonas Brothers were there. We definitely didn't go! Anyways, so we all decided to go together to Cabela's to watch the fireworks at Thanksgiving Point. We were up on a hill so we actually got to see a few firework shows. After we saw the fireworks, we stayed around in the parking lot and set off some fireworks of our own. It was fun. We should have bought some more. Good thing fireworks are legal again on July 24th. Eric and I are defintely going to buy more than we did this time. Anyways, it was a great 4th of July. Thanks to all of our friends for such a fun week-end!
Our Friend Lisa with baby Carter at the pool:


At the Parade:


Our giant steaks:


Playing with Sparklers while waiting for the fireworks:


Aren't we cute:


Fireworks:


The cute bag that Eric's mom sent to me. She's great!


One of the fireworks we set off: