4th of July

We had a different, but fun 4th of July this year. Usually we spend it with family in the mountains or something like that, but this year we didn't. We spent the morning in Morgan for a work party with Tracy's co-workers. The kids and I got to swim and Tracy went shooting. I forgot to get my camera out while we were swimming so I didn't get any pictures. Bummer. We had a BBQ after swimming and got to know some of the people Tracy works with. It was a lot of fun! After we were done we headed down to Provo. In March, when we had money from our taxes, we bought tickets for Stadium of Fire. We got them because the Jonas Brothers were coming and the kids, and I, really like them. It ended up being so much fun! It was very patriotic which was really nice. My kids know the reason why we have the 4th but they've never really been to a patriotic celebration. It was so cool. They had dancers from all over the state and they talked about the 4th of July throughout the years. They talked about the first 4th and about the Declaration of Independance. They showed the first flag too. Then they talked about the Civil War, World War 1 and World War 2. It was really neat. Then they had an AWESOME F-16 fly over! They started out talking about the preparation the pilots went through to prepare for the event. Then they went live to a pilot who said "Hi and happy 4th of July". Then the planes flew over! So cool!! SheDaisy performed a few songs, then they had a Black Hawk fly over and then more dancing. The dancing this time involved fire and was so cool. Everything was cool :) When the dancing was over they didn't even announce the Jonas Brothers, they just started with some drums and everyone started chanting "Jonas, Jonas". The best part was just watching Tiaree and Bree. They were so cute. The JoBros put on a pretty good concert though. My right ear was ringing though between Tiaree, Bree and the 3 girls about Tiaree's age behind us screaming at the top of their lungs! Too cute. The fireworks after were the best I've ever seen. In the middle they actually retired the huge flag they'd used at Stadium of Fire for like 16 years. That was really neat too. The military brought it in and they put it in this thing that looked like the torch on the Statue of Liberty and then set it on fire. It made me pretty emotional and proud to be an American. Then they had the fireworks finale and nature added in some pretty spectacular lightening and whala: the funnest fireworks we've seen on the 4th! Next year, my family is coming with us if we go. I really missed them and I know everyone would love to go to it! Here are some fun pictures:

Our Little Staycation

This year we haven't had a lot of money to do fun stuff. Tracy has had to take a lot of his vacation time for Young Men's camp and Youth Conference so even if we had some money, we wouldn't have been able to go anywhere. So before Tracy left for Camp Heleman, we took a few days and had fun around here. On Saturday the 20th, we headed out to the zoo. We met with a bunch of Twilight Moms and started going through the zoo. It was really fun and then it started to rain. It was ok for just a minute, a little bit of a drizzle. And then it started to pour! We got cold and shivery! We had lunch and then we went ahead and went downtown. We took a tour of the Conference Center. We have never done that before and it was really neat. We went home and it was still raining and cold so we made a fort in the family room and watch Fellowship of the Ring. It ended up being such a fun day!
Us on top of the Conference Center. It was cold! Tiaree in the fort
The back of the fort

Sunday we headed up to Logan for the day after church. It was so fun! We did some geocaching on campus and then had a BBQ at Adams park. I love Logan and really miss it sometimes. If we could get a good job up there, it would be really tempting to move. The kids on the "A"
Walking to Old Main
Walking around campus

On Monday Tracy and I served in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple for the open house. Tracy worked parking and I worked hospitality. I got to serve cookies and water to all the people after they went through the temple. It was really amazing! We worked one other time as well and got to work outside the sealing rooms and see how touched the people were after they came out. It was so cool and the spirit was so strong. I can't wait for the temple to open so that I can go do a session there. It's so cool to have a new temple that I'll be able to worship in.

After the temple we went to the Bingham Copper Mine. We'd never been there either and that was really cool. It was so huge! After the mine we went to a drive-in movie. What a blast that always is! We saw Up! and The Porposal. Both were fun movies. The drive-in is always such a fun experience. The kids love it and it's cheaper than the theater. The only bummy part is when stupid people decide to smoke. Why they do that when there are obviously tons of kids around is beyond me. The cool huge tires that are on the huge trucks
The mine The kids ready for the movie to start.
Our fun little set up. My family is so cute!

Tuesday we went and actually participated in the temple open house. Tiaree and Jarik were really good, Bree and Keighlee not so much! Bree kept pushing past all the people in front of us and KK tried to go places that were blocked off. So kinda stressful. But we were able to go with Tracy's grandparents and that was fun. They took us to a late lunch after and Bree and Keighlee both had little melt downs in the restaurant so that was fun. But it was a really nice day anyways. Us in front of the Temple

Tracy left for Camp on Wednesday and on Friday my best friend Katie was able to visit! We were able to take her and her daughter Kylie through the temple open house but this time, I just had Tiaree and Jarik with me. It was really nice. We had a good dinner and stayed up way too late talking. On Saturday we were able to go to the Taylorsville Dayz fireworks. We do that every year with Tracy's family. It's always fun! I met Tracy and the kids over there after I went to a meeting for the awesome New Moon Movie event we are putting on. If any of you reading this are interested go to eventsbyalice.com !!!! :D We are always a little crazy when we get together but it's so much fun! I love all my TM friends! The fun TM BBQ!!
Beautiful fireworks! I love them!!

We had a fun weekend together as a family and I'm glad we were able to be together. I'm looking forward to the camping trip we will be taking at the end of the month too. That will be nice! I'm also going to go to Boise to visit Katie when Tracy goes to Youth Conference in two weeks. I'm way stoked about that! It will be great to get away!