4th of July recap

After the Fears Family Reunion, Gary and I took off back to our New Mexico home. During the drive home, Gary brought up the July 4th 5K run that we have ran together for the last two years and mentioned wanting to run it again. This would mean another 10 hour drive in exactly one week! I dread the long drive but was SO excited to come celebrate the 4th in Utah AND especially run the Freedom Run...my FAVORITE run of all!


Gary left work early on Thursday July 3 and I tried to have everything ready and packed and we were back on the road by about 3:00pm. It made for a long day and a very long drive, but we finally made it to Provo at about 1:3oam. Of course we had to drop by the Parade Route to see Chandra and Lincoln who slept over with some friends saving a big plot of land for the many family and friends who all meet to watch the parade together.
The Freedom Run is my FAV! I think I love it because so much of the run follows the parade route (before the parade starts) and there are THOUSANDS of people all there saving spots for the parade and cheering on runners. Another part of it is just the fun holiday! Steph, Jason, Gary and I all ran...and it was so much fun!After the run we hurried back to our 'reserved' spot on the parade route to watch the parade.

It's always fun to see BYU Athletes in the Parade! Gary sure gets excited to see the Football players. This made Gary EXTRA EXTRA excited for the next football season! :) I have to admit, I'm kinda excited too! Hopefully we can make it up for a few games this fall.My very favorite thing about parades are the bagpipes. LOVE LOVE LOVE them! I think this all started when I was just little and living in Calgary. Our next door neighbor would get his bagpipes out every night just as we were being put to bed. He would walk back and forth on his back porch and play for hours at a time while we tried to go to sleep...Jason doesn't like them (because of that) and I love them!And another one of those "Only in Utah" parade entries! This is the crowd favorite every year. My heart just beats an extra beat when these great looking men and women walk past me down the street! How fun it must be for these missionaries to celebrate the 4th in Provo, UT!Thanks so much to Channy and Doug for reserving a big ol plot of land all night long so family and friends could all sit together at the parade...I'm guessing they probably didn't get much sleep. Ya think?
What about these two? Lincoln and Freddy also hung out and saved spots for us too Lincoln told me that they didn't go to sleep all night...they couldn't even make it to a bed.After the parade, we changed into our swim suits and went swimming with some of my family. Gary must have been so tired from the long/late drive and the run, he fell asleep on the floatie for a VERY long time! Some friends called my Mom earlier on the 4th giving her three extra tickets to the Stadium of Fire. Chandra and Doug went and Gary took the other ticket...He really wanted to go and I really wanted him to go too because he'd never been before. Needless to say, when he returned, the camera will FILLED with pictures like the one you see below! Ha!
July 5th was fun too! Gary and I got up REALLY early and went with my parents and Bran and Steph to see the Ballons take off. It was fun, except that once in the air, none of the balloons were able to make it back to the field
...After that we hiked up to Stewart Falls. Jason, Shannon, Haley, Steph, Brandon, Gary and I took off thinking and slightly remembering that this hike was a quick short and somewhat flat hike (which is why we brought Haley with us). We were wrong. It was two miles and none of it was flat. It wasn't that difficult for the adults but poor Haley...two miles in dirt on the side of a mountain was a little bit much for her! Needless to say, we made it and had lots of fun at the end!