Fourth of July Fun!

This Independence Day sure was a fun one! Even though I am over seven months pregnant and feeling very "large and in charge", Neil and I found lots of fun things to do to celebrate the holiday. We began our day by waking up at 6:30 AM (that's early for a day when we don't have to be at work or school) and walked over to the Bulldog fields to watch the hot air balloons.

Afterwards, we headed to University Avenue and staked out a spot to watch the parade. Groups of people and whole families had set up camp along the entire street the night before just so they could have a good spot for the parade. Neil and I arrived just one hour before the parade started and we had great seats; we sat right in front of all those poor people who set up tents on the grass behind us... The highlight of the parade (at least for Neil) was seeing Glenn Beck. He was the main speaker for this year's freedom festival devotional at the Marriot center and the emcee for the Stadium of Fire concert and fireworks show in LaVelle Edward's Stadium.

Grandma and Grandpa Bennion hosted their annual Fourth of July barbeque and water fight at their home. We ate lots of yummy food and had a good time visiting with all of Neil's family. We didn't plan on participating in the water fight, but just as we were ready to leave, one of Neil's younger cousins came into the kitchen where we were sitting and poured a cup of cold water down his shirt! That was enough to get Neil fired up. As you can see, he was a pretty ruthless competitor against all his little cousins.

James (Neil's brother) got forced into the water fight too. It was the cousins' greatest wish to drench him. This is a picture of James when he got cornered by all of them, so he hopped the fence and landed in a pile of thorny weeds in the neighbor's back yard (barefooted). Those kids chased him through the whole neighborhood before they finally got him.

James and his wife Shawnne and Jake, Holly, and Kelsey Brown, and Dave and Nikki Merrill joined us behind the Hinckley visitor's center on the BYU campus to watch the fireworks being launched from the football stadium. There was a really nice breeze and ideal weather for being outside, so we enjoyed a perfect evening.