The 4th of July in Provo!

We had a wonderful of July this year! Provo really knows how to do it when it comes to the 4th. The whole time we have lived here we haven't been to the 4th of July morning parade. Nate went over at 4am to camp out a spot and got lucky with a great one right on University!

Another event of note is that Nate had a beard for awhile. I loved it! I like him without it too. It's  just fun to switch it up once and awhile.

Scott absolutely loved the parade! He waved at all the "princesses", danced to the marching bands, got excited about the horses, and loved the free stuff they threw out. 

Nate's Mom came in town for the 4th of July which was really fun! Emily, Mike and Richard's Mom all joined us for the parade. 

Later that afternoon we all met up at the Beans for an awesome BBQ! I am still dreaming of the farm stand corn on the cob, watermelon, and cantaloupe we had. Not to mention steak and homemade ice cream!

After dinner we lit off some fireworks in the street while waiting for it to get dark enough for Stadium of Fire. Nate loves lighting home fireworks since he never got to do them as a kid in California. So fun!

Nate's office is right near the stadium so just like last year we camped out in the parking lot to watch fireworks. The Beans, Mike, Emily, Nate's Mom, Wade, and the McKells all joined us!

Scott was more scared of the fireworks this year than last year! Last year he just got really quiet and watched them. He was slightly terrified this year. Luckily he got used to it about halfway through the show.

Celebrating the 4th of July!

We had a great 4th of July this year! Provo really does know how to celebrate the 4th. And on top of that John and Vanessa came in town on Monday night and stayed with us through the 4th. Since Mike and Emily live here, it was fun to hang out with 4 of Nate's 6 siblings!
I am so lucky that Nate's siblings also happen to be some of my best friends. I feel like that rarely happens, but we all just like each other!

 Scott is so lucky to have such awesome aunts and uncles! He loves playing with them and the feeling is mutual!
While they were here we went to the pool...

Scott LOVES jumping into the pool off the side! My arms were killing me after the 5th time. 

We also went to 7 peaks!

Background?

And ate delicious food like Cafe Rio, J-Dawgs, and s'mores...

One night we went and walked around Bridal Veil Falls!

On the actual 4th of July we went to Provo's 4th of July Parade in morning. It was awesome! I love parades. Scott loved the high school marching bands and would clap along every time they passed by. He also loved the horses. He has been really into saying "neigh" of all the animal noises lately. He did not, however, like sitting there while all the slow-moving cars of freedom-prize this and that winners passed by. Luckily he is easily pacified with fruit snacks. We went through 3 bags.

During the day on the 4th some of us went down to the street festival in Provo while Scott took his nap. 

We also had a delicious BBQ with burgers, watermelon, chips, beans, corn on the cob, and apple crisp for dessert! 

That night Nate had the landlord of his office building reserve a space for us in the parking lot. 

Nate's office is right next to the stadium so we had an awesome place to watch the stadium of fire fireworks!

Since there was only 1 parking spot and we had 8 people, we took Nate's truck over like this... 

We remain unsure of the laws regarding people riding in the back of the truck in Utah. Can't be worse than the laws in California though right?

Kind of a big deal...

While we were waiting for the fireworks to start we lit off a few of our own. 

Scott was mesmorized by everything. He kept saying "boom boom!" over and over. 

 We watched the real fireworks sitting in the back and on top of Nate's truck. We had to cover Scott's ears because they were so loud, but after that he literally didn't move a muscle the entire show because he was so in awe. 

It was a perfect 4th of July! Thanks for visiting John and Vanessa!