Faith, Family, Freedom

The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays!!  

We are so blessed to live in this amazing land and enjoy the many freedoms that we enjoy.

  I loved teaching my kids about patriotism and the many reasons we have to be proud of and devoted to this great country.  I hope we can do our part to make it a better place.

That being said, my FAVORITE place to be on  the 4th is Provo, Utah where they truly know how to celebrate!! They have been doing it right for almost thirty years.  This year's festival signature event, the Stadium of Fire hosted Carrie Underwood.  I was so excited when Tyler got me tickets for my birthday.  She was amazing!!  But I'll back up.

We left for Utah Friday afternoon and spent Saturday swimming and hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma.  That evening Tyler and I headed down to Provo.  There will always be a special place in my heart for Provo.  Not only is it one of my favorite places with so many special memories growing up visiting my grandparents who live there, but also it is where Tyler and I met and spent the first four years of our marriage finishing our bachelors and his MBA at BYU.  So heading into our old stompin’ grounds, BYU’s Lavell Edwards Stadium brought back a flood of memories.  Trying to find a parking spot in all the traffic, sneaking in treats, scanning the crowd for friends (wouldn’t you know it that out of over 50,000 spectators a family friend from Jerome sat right behind us!), and then afterward finding a friends to visit with (saw the Thompsons, who moved from Rocklin a few years ago to Utah with their eight kids) while the traffic cleared. 

It's got to be one of the most beautiful settings for a college, look at those mountains - OH how I miss those mountains!  The show was great. We were pleasantly surprised when Carrie Underwood came out early in the show to sing the Star Spangled Banner – WOW!  Then we saw a few, super talented Utah stars Jenny Oaks Baker,  Five Browns, and the Osmonds Second generation.  In addition, it was the biggest Eagle’s Court of Honor (261 boys), dancing, fireworks, and lots more Carrie Underwood.  We were at her right up about 15 rows and I swear she waved at me.  It had to be me, I was the only one standing and dancing in our section!! 

I only had my little point and shoot, but you get the idea, you can see the short shorts and cowboy boots she was in all night!  Man, was she good!

Sunday, Tyler’s brother Brandon & family arrived (from Texas) and we had Grandpa Backman and Grandma Janet out for dinner and Family Home Evening.  It was wonderful to hear Grandpa Backman's testimony and feelings about living in this great country.  Aren't they cute, they look so good to be great-grandparents to 50!!  

We also got to see Aunt Barbara and two of her darling girls, Kimmy and Jenna.  

Monday morning my sister in law Amy, my sister Kristin, and I ran in the Freedom Run 10K in Provo.  I had a strong run and a great time being with two of my favorite girls!  We ran part of the parade route (so really all these people weren’t out to watch us!) and I think my Dad was our biggest cheerleader.  He was so thrilled to see his girls in one of their races, I think mainly because he said if you would have told him that when we were in high school he wouldn’t have believed it!!  Here we are, right afterward.

 Tyler, his parents, and the kids had gotten up early to see the hot air balloons launch at 6:30.  There were 24 balloons this year.  I have done this since I was a little girl and love going.  We then (thanks to my dad sleeping out all night on a cot on the sidewalk and getting us a sweet spot in the shade) watched the parade with all the family! 

 An afternoon of swimming at Grandma's and a barbecue at Aunt Ginny’s, complete with Bonnie's potatoe salad, homemade burnt almond fudge and blueberry ice cream, and rainbow jello (special request from Andrew) made it a perfect way to spend the holiday!