Summer Lovin'

Ok so not really, not in the sense of Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta or anything, but I am loving the summer. After I finished summer school I have had a great time. Timp cave with the family, My dad's birthday and little William's baby blessing, trips to California, and hanging out with friends and family.

I celebrated our nation's Independence Day for days actually. It was a great weekend. Kristen flew up for the 4th, and we had a great time. We started the festivities with the Oakley Rodeo in Oakley, Ut. on Thursday the 2nd. I loved that before the rodeo started instead of one person singing the Star Spangled Banner the whole crowd stood and paid tribute to our flag. I loved it! The rodeo was great too. Friday Kristen and I went to lunch at a sushi place downtown SLC for yummy sushi and then we went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house. We had to wait in a bit of a line to get in, but if you ask me, the church has it way more organized than in the past when I remember waiting for hours (hours!) to see San Diego, or Vegas. The temple is beautiful of course. It was worth the wait. Friday night we went to a BBQ at one of my sister's friends house, and then we went to see fireworks from a golf course. My sister's boyfriend kept telling us we needed to get going. I had no idea what kind of fireworks (or crowds) to expect. He was right we needed to get going! The place was packed, there were tons of people, but the fireworks were great, and worth the walk from where we had to park. Early Saturday we ran in the Centerville Freedom Run (5k). It was really fun... I am not too worried about how fast I run, so it was a fun time. Afterwards we sat and watched the parade. I love parades!Saturday afternoon Kristen and I went to a demolition derby in Ogdon. Let me tell you, it was a completely different crowd than the rodeo or the 5k... but it was still tons of fun. One of the cars had to be physically removed from on top of one of the the freeway barriers they use to keep all the cars in. I think it might be a goal of drivers, to get other drivers stuck on the wall!We left the demo derby to find yet more fireworks, so I called Jill and she recommended some great fireworks down the road from where we were. Kristen and I grabbed some KFC and found a spot to eat and watch fireworks. Kristen took some amazing pictures of the fireworks! We had a great time... I love Independence day. I love my country. I love the freedoms we enjoy, and I love the men and women who fight everyday for those freedoms. Bless my homeland forever!