3rd of July

Our 4th (well, 3rd) of July was a full day of summery bliss! We started it all off with the Murray Parade. If any of you have ever been to this, you know that it's pretty much a 2 hour commercial (mostly political) with a few gems of outrageousness in between. Here are some gems.

When all was said and done we were glad we dragged ourselves out of bed for it.

Then we went to my parents' house for a barbecue with my Grandparents and Aunt Candy. After that, we (along with my parents) went with Tanya's family to see Toy Story 3. We loved it. Pixar for the win. Then Tanya's parents had my parents over for a barbecue and it was full of ideal summer food - gourmet burgers, corn on the cob, watermelon, chips and salsa, and margaritas.

Then I somehow talked everyone into being a part of one of my crackpot schemes. There is a river that flows past Tanya's parents' backyard in Lehi, and all summer long I have wanted to tube down it. I somehow talked everyone into it and half an hour later there we were. Tanya's brother Court, her brother Brock, and Brock's girlfriend Chantelle joined me.

The worried moms followed alongside in a car to make sure we didn't drown.

As well as Tan's dad Bart.

Tanya was the photog

So it was a pretty lazy flow up until the end, where it narrowed and started going really fast. The moms had secured a ski rope to a pole so that if we couldn't get out on our own, we could grab the rope and pull ourselves to the side. This was a last resort, because at the end of the river it goes into this machine that churns the water and then there's a conveyor belt that brings out big objects (like sticks, deflated tubes, or possibly dead bodies). I missed the rope completely and kept going. Meanwhile Brock grabbed the rope, but it knocked Chantelle and Court off the tube. Somehow Brock helped them get out. I grabbed a ladder on the side further down the river, but the water was so fast it just rushed over me and I couldn't breath, so I let go. There was one last ladder before the churning machine, and luckily that one I grabbed and pulled myself out with. The tubes both kept going, were churned, and came up off the conveyor belt.

We rushed home, took warm showers, ate hot chocolate, and turned on the fire. In the middle of the summer.

Then we went to the fireworks in Lehi

Overall, a perfect summer day.