4th of July Fun!

Well the fourth of July was tons of fun! It started Thursday night for us and ended on Saturday afternoon. Thursday night i was able to go up to my sister Maureen's home and participate in their neighborhood parade. It was the cutest thing and it felt like a movie because I couldn't believe a neighborhood actually did something like that! The kids all decorated their bikes, scooters or whatever they were riding, as well as dressed up. We all met at a neighbors house and then got in a line and walked down the road. It was so cute! It was fun to see how excited all the kids were. There was one girl in particular who was totally decked out in a unitard, and I couldn't stop laughing. They also had the North Salt lake fireworks that we were able to watch in the front yard. It was alot of fun.

cute little Mckell in her wagon

totally decked out girl

Friday we were able to go back up to Maureen's for fun games and fireworks. We had super good food and played lots of fun games. Maureen made up cute games like the jello eating contest, three legged race, raw egg toss, and water balloon fight (which turned into a full out water war). We had lots of fun, and it was fun to see how excited the kids were with everything going on.

Mike and Ian getting ready for the Jello eating contest

Jake eating his jello

Mike after the jello eating contest

Three Legged Race

being excited during fireworks

McKell and her fireworks

Jake and Ian dancing during the flashing fireworks

Saturday we went hiking to the Timpanogas caves with Maureen's family. It was alot of fun, and the kids made it all the way to the top. After taking only a few breaks and being super sweaty we were able to go into the caves. It was fun to see how excited the kids were and how much fun they had. Tyler was able to have the important job of shutting the doors after the whole group went through, and he made sure he did his job well. It was tons of fun!

Inside the caves

Family picture inside the caves

Jake looks like he's trying to model, and I look overly excited

Hiking the Stansbury Mountains

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go on my first backpacking trip, but sadly Jake couldn't come because he has to work on the weekends. I had a great time, although my brothers and sister would probably say differently :) I didn't realize backpacking was so tough, and I was glad the first day we started it was dark so no one could see me crying because I was so tired. The trip made me realize how out of shape I am! It is so sad! Even though I was lame and tired the whole time, I did have alot of fun. I am posting pictures below and hope you enjoy! The neat thing is that the mountains were only about 45 minutes away, so it was so close. I am amazed that a place so beautiful is so close to SLC. Some highlights from the trip:

• Running away from flies at the lake we hiked to, and then having them follow us all the way back to our tents.


• Ian finding a snake on the hike


• Finding three goat legs randomly on the trail, and Ian actually touching them
  
• Eating a mountain meal with the four of us eating off of one fork and passing it around
  
• Going home and getting tons of food and eating almost all of it....It seemed like the best meal ever!
• Vic and me putting up our tent on slanted ground and us sliding toward the bottom of the tent during the night

Here are some pics: