24 of July

I can't believe how fast the summer has gone. I don't even know what we have done, but it seems like just yesterday was the last day of school. Now the 24th of July is over and school is just around the corner. Manassa holds a celebration the 3rd wknd in July to celebrate July 24 - Mormon Pioneer Days. Utah celebrates on July 24th - no matter what day it is. (I'm sure if it's on Sunday, they make other arrangements.) So this year, the girls and I dressed up as pioneers and went with Bret and Austin to the annual fireman's breakfast. It was yummy!

Afterward, we just hung out. About 2:30 we went to Tom and Bestie's and followed them to a hill near Tom's brother's house. There we helped set up a HUGE slip and slide. There were lots of people. We ordered pizza and had drinks and LOTS of fun and Great conversation. We did this last year and it seemed my Austin and Avrie had more fun last year. But this year was fun, too. There were more people this year and more older "kids" this year. Hubs was able to join us toward the end which was SO much fun for our kids.

Then we came home and had a light dinner and just hung out with the kids. We were all pretty tired. So as we laid in bed, the kids already asleep, we could hear the fireworks. If we had known they were just down at UVU, we would have gone outside and watched them. Instead we just went to sleep.

Whewww!

First off, I'm feeling a little melancholy. Today my home town of about 1000 people are having their Pioneer Day Celebration. I haven't been to it in a few years and I miss it! I wish we could have gone - but let's not get into that! I keep going over the events in my head. At 6 AM the dynamite went off. At 10 AM the parade started. After the parade the hamburger stand would be packed. At 1:30 PM the rodeo started. Then a little later the carnival would be fun. I just keep thinking of all the people that are there and all of those "home" for the festivities! Wow, I miss it!

On another note - I'm so emotional, I hope I can get through this. A week ago today, my good friend went into the hospital to be induced with her 4th child. To make a VERY long story short, she hemorrhaged, the doctors had to revive her twice, they gave her 12 bags of blood and 5 bags of plasma - but amazing enough, she's alive and came home from the hospital 4 days later. Her beautiful baby is doing just fine - after some pretty serious scares. My heart is so grateful that she is ok. Every time I think of it, tears come to my eyes. She was so very close, twice, to dying. I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers and I'm so thankful he answered them in the way we wanted him to.

Memory Lane Monday

Pioneer Days!
The town that I'm from celebrates Pioneer Days too. They celebrate it the weekend (Friday and Saturday) closest to the 24th of July (or maybe it's the 3rd weekend in July). There's always a parade and rodeo and hamburger stand and carnival and "back then" there was a barbaque at the church. My grandpa used to help cook the meat for the bbq. They'd have to check and turn the roast every 3 or 4 hours through the day and night. The the wards would donate the salads, rolls, desserts, etc. It was sure yummy! But the last few years have brought on a LOT of changes. But still, one thing is still the same - A lot of people work hard to make the "celebration" a success.

In this picture, Smoky Bear was shaking our hands. It was a big deal for us because we used to go on picnics to Smoky Bear campground. I'm the girl with the pioneer hat on. My brother is the boy with the orange shirt on. My cousin, Trish?, is in the French braids and I don't think the other boy is related to us. Not sure....
Notice the float in the background and the groovy pickup washed up nice and shiny!