Independence Day Weekend 2008

This year I took a break from what I have done almost every year on Independence Day since living here in Utah. Usually the way I spend Independence Day is hanging out with one of my best friends and his family and watch the Parade then get some good Barbecue and then head out to the Stadium of Fire which, if you have not been, is pretty much one of the best firework shows and concerts you will see. I abstained this year due to the fact that I was invited to spend the day with my sister, my brother-in-law and his family and also because this years main performer was none other than Hanna Montana. Come on Provo, the majority of the city is not made up of 13 year old girls. Last years show was amazing, I mean really when it comes to country music, there's no one better than Brooks & Dunn who were last years main performers at the above mentioned event.



Even though I know I would have had fun with the Halladays, I wanted to try something new so here is what went down.I got a phone call yesterday (Thursdays) from my brother -in-law and my sister asking if I would like to spend Independence Day with them. It was something new so I said sure. We ended up going to Kaysville which is about an hour and 15 minutes north of Orem/Provo. There, they have their annual parade and then a huge community water fight between the parade floats and the parade spectators. This was by far the biggest water fight I have ever seen. Even the fire department and other city water trucks were in on it. They would spray the spectators with their water hose and the citizens would run up to the trucks and dump huge buckets of water into the firetrucks drenching the driver and anyone else inside. I took a few pictures and missed getting drenched by a huge bucket of water by inches. I stepped forward to take a picture just as someone flung the water in their 5 gallon bucket at me and it barley missed me and mainly got splashed on the legs from the water hitting the street. This water fight went on for two continuous miles. However the water fight was broken up due to some minor injuries. A couple of boys got their legs and feet slightly run over by a float. Everyone thought that one of the boys had been run over the torso so life flight was brought in as a precautionary. Thankfully they were just very minor injuries and the boys were released later in the day.



After the water fight, we headed to a park and played volleyball and Frisbee. Then we all went back to my brother-in-laws parents house and played badminton and barbecued. The badminton was fun. We played till one team reached ten points. One game lasted till the final score was 15-14. The following games final score was 10-0...I was on the losing side but it was fun. Following that we watched the firework show and then caught the tail end of the movie Independence Day. My brother would have joined us but he spent the day at Bear Lake wake boarding. Following the fireworks we pretty much called it a day, and my sister and brother-in-law dropped me off at my place before heading home. When I got home I reflected on the Founding Fathers and the great sacrifices they made and the sacrifices that our armed forces make as they serve and put their lives on the line so that we may continue to enjoy the freedoms that we have and more than often take for granted.



I think next year I will be more prepared for the post parade water fight. There were people who had lined the beds of their pickups with tarps and filled them with water. Others had rented trailers with high walls , lined them with tarps and filled them with water as well. It was pretty insane. I am looking forward to next years water fight.


On Saturday, I mainly chilled at home and got caught up on much needed sleep. Around noon I got a phone call from one of my best friends and was invited to hang out with him and his family at his uncle's house. His uncle lives about a mile from me so I headed down there around 8pm and got to visit and see Jake, his wife Lynn, and their new baby Annabelle, who by the way is the cutest, coolest, most awesome and chill baby I have ever met. I also got to visit with his parents. I really am grateful for Jake, his family, and my friendship with them. They have done so much for me.

Sunday I went to church and then spent the evening playing Risk with my brother and my brother-in-law. My brother and I formed an alliance against Brady ( my brother-in-law) because every time I attacked him, he kept on rolling pairs of 6 which meant that I lost the battles. So in order to even things out, my brother nuked Asia which is where a lot of Brady's men were stationed and then he attacked and wiped out most of his men in Africa. I caused minimal damage to Brady and ended up coming in last in the game. Over all it was a pretty fun weekend. I think one thing I learned from this weekend is that I need to be more social. Last Saturday was pretty fun too. I went to dinner with Andrew and his wife, Jolyn and then my brother, my sister, and her husband Brady, met up with us at a park in Provo and we played baseball for a couple of hours. It was pretty sweet.