4th of July Weekend

This year we decided to go down to Utah for the 4th.  I have had to work Saturdays so we haven't been able to go anywhere on the weekends.  Somehow, I got Saturday the 5th off so Friday night we headed down.  I had to work at Broulims until 6:30 so we didn't leave until 7:30.

I was really sad we weren't going to be able to go to an actual fireworks show but it worked out that we got to Tremonton around 9:50 and was able to watch fireworks all down the highway to Provo.  It was amazing!  There were some points where we could see probably 10 different firework displays at a time.

We didn't get to Provo until 11ish and our first stop was to pick up my brother Eli from his apartment.  We then changed our plans slightly and ended up getting a hotel in Provo for the night.  Well, we tried finding one in Provo but they were all booked solid because of the Carrie Underwood concert so we got one just outside of it.  Once we got there, we realized we were all hungry so back out we went (it's now 1:00am) to find food.  The only places open were Del Taco and Taco Bell...so we went to both!  We never had Del Taco before so Eli and I wanted to try that.  Nate didn't want to try something new so he wanted Taco Bell.  Eli and I also ended up getting stuff at Taco Bell too, just in case Del Taco was bad.  Since the food was so cheap, it didn't matter!

When Eli worked at the gas station back home he developed the habit of walking over to McDonalds after his shift to pick up dropped change from the drive-thru....so he hopped out of the car at both places and found some.  I think he made a whole 45 cents or something.  (Excuse our very dirty windshield).

Eli posted this picture on twitter with the caption "Third Wheeling Level 100"

On Saturday, we took Eli to run a few errands since he doesn't have a car.  First, we went to DI to buy him some kitchen essentials that he was so lacking.  I happened to find a mini muffin pan which was nice because mine has gotten lost at some point during my college career.  Next, we went to Super Walmart to buy food because he'd been surviving on Saltine crackers for the most part.  He spent over $100 which was definitely the most he's ever spent in one trip on food.  Thankfully, most of the stuff he won't need to buy again for a really long time (flour, oil, salt, rice, potatoes etc.)

Last time Nate and I were in the area we discovered an outlet mall that we didn't get to spend much time at so we went there next.  The boys enjoyed looking around the Nike store (which bores me) but then we went to J. Crew and Gap.  Outlets are a fantastic thing, I might add.  They make stores like J. Crew have prices in a range I can actually afford...since I can't be buying $50 pairs of shorts and $70 shirts!  But I ended up getting a pair of shorts and a shirt and Nate got some shorts and shirts as well.  At Gap I found a pair of jeans (which is good since I've basically been wearing one pair for the last year...I need some variety) and two really cute shirts.  It was a great trip all around!

In my new Gap jeans and shirt, with Eli right before we left to go back to Idaho.

After shopping, we met up with Nate's brother Brandon's family for pizza at Pizza Pie Cafe.  We have one in Rexburg but rarely go because Nate doesn't really like it.  I was glad it's what the kids picked because I hadn't been there in so long!  Sadly, it wasn't as good as I remembered :(

These kiddos are hilarious!!

To our excitement, there were fireworks planned for the night in Spanish Fork, where Nate's brother lives.  Apparently, it is just some guy that puts a show together because he loves fireworks.  Sounds like not a big deal, but it was legit.  It was set to music and had huge fireworks and everything!  Since our expectations for it were not really big, it was far more exciting than we anticipated haha (and I never got a picture of a big firework so this picture will have to do...)

On Sunday we went to church with Brandon's family and they fed us a delicious dinner of steak, potatoes, and pineapple jello salad!  The girls wanted to paint nails before I left so we went onto the porch outside to do that.  They painted mine first (a wide variety of pinks, reds, oranges and one blue) and then it was my turn to paint theirs.  Well, me being a total klutz, dropped the paint bottle and spilled silver nail polish all over my brand new jeans which I had been wearing for literally 15 minutes.  Brandon was a lifesaver and scrubbed it out using nail polish remover and after washing them when I got home you can't even tell it was there!

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend with family.  I especially enjoyed visiting with Eli and meeting some of his new BYU roommates.  It was a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants weekend, but that's how we like it :)