pioneer day

i'm finally back! i have had some major blogger issues this past week but everything seems to be ok now, cross your fingers and knock on wood, so hopefully i'll be doing some catch up this week. starting with...the parade! (ya, i'm really behind). kristy and i's late night adventures saving seats paid off, we had a great time at the pioneer parade, a tradition that we love. (ethan loves it too except for the fire engines which are a little too loud at close proximity). it was fun to have wayne and eileen home from their mission this year to attend with us, it's one of eileen's favorite things. (check out the darling bonnett she made for natalie!) of course we had lots of family there and cousins, plus friends, make everything more fun.my favorite parts of the parade were...the marching bands, there were a ton of them this year and i love the way they totally liven things up. the motorcycles that do tricks, i'm always stressed that they're going to run into someone but every year it turns out well so i've started to enjoy them. the missionaries marching, really i took this photo for patsy because she missed the parade this year, i knew she would like to see these guys. when they passed by everyone clapped and cheered, they blushed a little, it was great.i also love the flag at the beginning which i didn't get photos of because i was trying to stand be respectful. every year except this one, they have local military march and i always cry, it's so moving to see everyone cheer and go crazy with appreciation for them. my favorite part of the parade this year ended up being something a little unexpected and caught me off guard. there was a ward or stake that dressed up like pioneers and had covered wagons and were carrying signs with photos and name of real pioneers that crossed the plains. i got so choked up, it was so moving and in an instant i just felt so appreciative of their sacrifices and moved by their faith. great idea! the other best part of pioneer day are the local fireworks. we used to sit out on a blanket on a lawn near the fireworks and that was ok, but for the last few years i've saved us a spot on the grass where they actually light the fireworks off. the crowd is insane but it has been so worth it. there's absolutely nothing more spectacular than fireworks up close! the display this year was so fantastic! the finale was incredible, it just kept going and going. one of my favorite photos of the night doesn't include everyone from our party but it turned out so cute i had to post it. happy pioneer day everyone! we love utah!

pioneer day

(i wrote this post on 7/25 but took forever to publish it) I have to laugh because I just read Paty's blog about how sad Pioneer Day is here in Utah. I mean, don't get me wrong, we love to do the parade in Bountiful, (although it's never on Pioneer Day because they don't want to compete with SLC), and we usually do fireworks, etc. However, I grew up OUTSIDE of Utah and we always had some sort of way fun ward activity that we always looked forward to. Maybe it's because here in Utah we see enough of our fellow ward members because they are our neighbors that yet another church activity isn't necessary? I don't know, but Patsy, I'm with you babe, next year, let's plan something totally awesome. These photos are late because, like I said, pioneer day in Bountiful is celebrated a few days early.We did go to the parade this year which was kind of sad to be honest, it's usually one of our faves, but maybe it wasn't as fun because it was a thousand degrees outside...

However, Rob & Liz and their family with new baby Zach, are in town and so it was fun to have them and Josh & Lisa drive from Sandy with their family, new baby twins to enjoy the parade with us. And the Phil & Lauri's gang who are already like family so they were along for the ride too. Nate & Larraine came late to the parade but ended up being the ones that stayed for the park and fireworks. I put a blanket on the hill EARLY in the morning and it was worth it, we were so close we had to lay down to see the fireworks, it was totally awesome, unless you're Henry or Ethan, neither of them appreciated it as much. Unfortunately, it was so dark packed that as bad as I wanted to take a picture of all of us laid out on the ground, it just wasn't realistic. So, I did was Rich always tells me to do, "take a mental picture". So, here's my mental picture... It's dark and finally cool, everyone's happy from eating chocolate creamies (is there any other kind?) and the sky is lit up with fantastic fireworks and lots of noise. The girls, Allie, Lauren, Nat, are all laying on one blanket, Taylor James and Spencer are on another. Phil and Lauri are laying together and Nate & Larraine are laying on the blanket just below me. Henry is laying on Larraine with his hands over his eyes. Joy is laying on the other side of Larraine with Nate's sneaky hands trying to tickle her, which she loves but is pretending to hate. Rich is laying next to me and I have Ethan snuggled in his favorite wonder bread blanket with my hands and blanket trying to muffle the loud sounds. He is scared but only cries for a minute until he realizes, we're not running away and it will be ok. And I say to Rich, "thanks for enduring the crowd, I know it's not your favorite thing." He smiles and says "sure", because he knows that fireworks and taking my children to large community gatherings is my favorite thing... wow, a picture really IS worth a thousand words!

So, yesterday, which was the REAL Pioneer Day, was ok, Rich came home from work early because the electricity was out (which I'm guessing is an essential ingredient to a computer programmer) and I ran a few errands and hung with Laur for a little while. I also bought a new camera! Don't get too excited, it's not replace the "baby" camera I do shoots with, it's just a small compact Nikon coolpix11 that I can throw in my purse when I don't feel like hauling a giant camera around. My mom and dad and April and her gang came over for creamies and homemade fireworks (not really homemade, but you know, in your drive way fireworks) and Ethan tolerated these much better.

I also tried out the "fireworks" function of my new camera, which is essentially keeping the shutter open for a long time. Long enough for everyone to try writing their names with sparklers. April & Allie won. Happy twenty-fourth.