Utah Holiday... Happy 24th of July!

One thing that is very unique to Utah is that there are two major holidays in July where stores and doctors offices close, we get off school, etc. One is the fourth and one is the twenty fourth! I've always recognized this day and remembered it because when I was growing up we were often in Luna for it - which also has a parade and everything! This was Heath's first time celebrating it though! It was a fun weekend and great to think about the Pioneers and the sacrifices they made to keep the gospel coming forth. They are great examples and have such wonderful testimonies to learn from! Heath got the day off so we made it a two day little vacation up to Salt Lake! We headed up Sunday morning in time for Music and The Spoken Word. It was a beautiful performance all centered on the Pioneers and their memory. Every time I'm able to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir I'm filled with the Spirit. It's so wonderful - the power and testimony that can come through music. We were right in front and enjoyed listening to the music!

We decided after that that we'd just go somewhere along the parade route (that was going on Monday morning) and enjoy the afternoon together. Little did we know that you aren't supposed to set up along there until 8pm the night before the event. The cops came through and told us to leave and gave us a paper with the city ordinance on it. Crazy! Of course, I was ready to leave and get out of there. But there were tons of people out there already and they told us that they did this every year and if we sit on public property then they'll leave us alone. The cops came through several times but once we put our chairs back on the other side of the sidewalk they said we were fine. It was quite the exciting afternoon. We made some friends and chatted with the people around us, played some games, read, and ate our pasta salad and treats we had brought. On their way back from Idaho Chad, Denise, and Marcus stopped by and said hi too! They drove by and Denise threw starbursts out the window! We were very excited - they were the pre-parade! It was fun to talk to them for a while! (And turns out that was the ONLY candy thrown! What? Parade and no candy? Sad day! -Well we did get two pieces from an older gentleman in an old car. He had thrown one piece to a kid next to us and we cheered so he gave us some too! He's the only one that understands what's necessary for a parade - besides our siblings! :)

Behind the sidewalk so we didn't get in trouble by the cops.

I made a LOT of pasta salad and it kept us filled up! We had some in the parking garage after Music and the Spoken Word and then ate it throughout the day. Yummy!

We also brought some other food... like Pringles! Quack Quack!

Our friends that sat next to us throughout the day. :)

The police keeping us off public property... crazy!

 At 8pm the cops came around and told us that we could move forward and start camping out! We still weren't allowed to set up tents but we could set up anything else. So we moved up and settled in for the rest of the night. What a crazy experience but fun and entertaining as well!

Heath laying out on our prime spot reserved at noon on Sunday! :)

Food! :)

Bread and honey for a snack

Having fun watching the old cars and playing yahtzee through the evening!

Yeah... people brought couches and put them up along the street! haha... awesome!

There was a family that came right before 8 and kept unloading and unloading... there were a ton of them with lots 'n lots of stuff!

 We had fun playing games and watching all the old cars that drove past through the evening. The streets were FILLED by that point and really was such a fun atmosphere to be in! I eventually laid down on our air mattress and slept for a quite a bit of the night (sort of) and Heath got a little bit of sleep but mostly it was in and out, talking, reading, playing, watching... what a crazy evening just sleeping out on the streets of Salt Lake City!! :)

In the morning we had some bread and honey and peanut butter and enjoyed the crisp morning together. The race runners came by fairly early and we watched all of them run by and cheered sometimes. The ladies next to us were WAY into the cheering! They cheered the whole time for every single runner... which was about an hour to an hour and a half of cheering. Impressive, kind of crazy, kind of entertaining! ha. :) A while after that the parade began! It was pretty good... less about the pioneers then I expected but it was still a fun parade! My favorite part was watching everyone stand in respect and wave to President Monson and his wife that were in a car near the front of the parade. He's such a sweet man and she is so sweet as well. It was a cool feeling to be able to wave to him and super neat to watch everyone along the street stand in respect for him. What a neat thing in the midst of crazy parade-ness and celebration! :)

Waiting for the parade

Front Row Seats!

The motorcycle cops at the beginning of the parade were way cool... and funny because all of them had mustaches (some fake - including the women! Awesome..)

Happy Pioneer Day!

Yee haw!

Press Forward Saints

Heath was pretty upset because there weren't any fire trucks in the parade! What's a parade without fire trucks?? This was the only one we saw and it went by the night before. Sad!

After the parade was over we gathered up our stuff and put it back in the truck and then walked the rest of the parade route. We were very happy with where we ended up - great seats and great area! The parade ended at a huge park! It was set up with all kinds of stands and food and games... it was like a mini state fair almost. We just looked - avoided any money spending - but even that was way fun! It was a cool park with a man made lake in the middle and stuff. It was fun! We spent a while there and then walked back to the truck and headed home! What a fun fun fun weekend with my husband!! We're not sure if we'd ever do that again but it was quite the experience! And it was just so fun to be together!! When we got home that afternoon we said we were going to take a nap and then get up and do some things we needed to do. Well... our nap lasted until the next morning! We were pretty exhausted but it was such an AMAZINGLY fun 24th of July!! :)