Fun Festivities

This week has been action-packed! On Tuesday we picked up Becca from the airport after she spent a week in Washington helping Christina move. Then on Wednesday Hilary and I went to SLC to celebrate her birthday at her favorite Indian restaurant. It was delicious! That night the boys and I happened on a car show that was part of Spanish Fork's Fiesta Days (a week-long celebration around Pioneer Day), and so we had to stop and look around.

Tyler's first excitement was a green pick-up. He loves green, and he loves trucks. Add the fire paint and he's in heaven:


Zachary liked this cool-looking car as well:


They were super excited about this car, because it reminded them of Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang:


And this one was such a nice color of blue that I had to take close-ups of the boys as well to get some good individual shots w/a nice background:


Dad, this one is for you ... seems it's been a while since you cut off a Tijuana Taxi:


Thursday was Pioneer Day. We started the morning off with the parade with my dad (thanks for getting there early to get us good spots!), my sister Rahcle's family, Hilary and her family, and Paul's mom and her new fiancee. I think this small-town parade impressed our visitors. :)

The kids, of course, always love a parade. Tyler got to see a pig:


Dad talked the Owlz mascot into throwing him something, which turned out to be a really cool hat:


The Jeeps did some cool stunts (Becky, this pic is for you!):


And we got to see two of my nephews in the parade. Cris and his team were division champs (he's the one with the big smile):


Here you can see what we did throughout the parade -- reverse candy-throwing. We threw the candy to the people we knew in the parade, or to people who didn't throw any to us:


Here is my other nephew Caleb (standing up to get a cold drink from grandpa), whose team became state champs! Awesome:


We then got to enjoy a day of games and a BBQ. This is a picture of Shayla with Paul's mom Carol. Shayla was being very shy (not surprising since this was only her third time to ever meet Carol), but Hilary at least got her to stop staring into space for the picture:


Carol said she came to visit because of Paul's birthday, but because his birthday is in March, she brought an un-birthday cake. Tyler was very concerned about this since HIS birthday is the next in our family, and he has to wait a LONG time for his birthday. So, Steve talked Carol into putting the boys' names on it as well:


Carol headed to the mall at one point to find a tie that was the perfect shade of purple for the ring bearer (no luck), which made Becca excited since she then got to go with her and get her new glasses. Although they are very similar to the old ones, I like the new look a little better:


We ended the day on a rotten note (cranky, disobedient kids and Morgan burning her hand on a sparkler), but hopefully the pictures will remind us that it was a fun day overall. I suppose if it wasn't a fun day it would have been a more realistic way of honoring the pioneers, huh? I can't see any fun in trekking across the plains in the scorching sun, the freezing cold, and the daily workload they endured. I am grateful for their efforts and sacrifices, and for the religious freedom I have because of so many who have sacrificed throughout history.