Pioneer Day

I've been feeling very grateful t his weekend. Part of it is gratitude for the pioneers and what they went through because of their beliefs. Part of it is because I have freedom to practice my religion in peace -- with very little discrimination or mockery. Much of it is because I have been blessed beyond belief with a great family -- both my husband and kids, and my parents and siblings. I also have to say that I have thought more than once this weekend about how grateful I am for air-conditioning!

Anyway, in honor of our pioneer ancestors there is a parade in town. We had fun, as usual, and got some fun pics of the celebration ...

We got there 20 minutes before the start time and got enough space for us and family. As we were walking to our usual place (a street perpendicular to the parade route), I could hear something very large coming up behind us. I figured it was a parade float or something, so I didn't turn around right away to see what was behind us. Then one of the kids did and yelled, "Whoa! A tank is behind us!" Yes, coming down the road behind us was this:

How fun is that to just see it coming down the road? (Of course, when it's not attacking!) This is the same one my kids have actually crawled through at various events, and they never bore of seeing it.

This parade was the first for both Austin and Gavin. Becca was right on top of taking care of Austin during the gun salutes and fire truck sirens:


Gavin's mommy took care of him, too:


BTW, Gavin recovered very quickly and even scored a piece of candy later:


On the way to the parade Shayla asked if there would be princesses. I said yes. I hoped the "beauties" didn't disappoint, and as you can see they didn't:


The best was the Miss Payson royalty. There was a redhead right in front of the onion carriage (I now realize I didn't get a good pic of her). When she got in front of us I yelled, "Hey, red head!" She looked over and I pointed to Shayla. She said, "Awesome!" and waved right at Shayla. Shayla had the BIGGEST grin ever on her face. It was ADORABLE!


The other favorite float was from Bank of American Fork. We have pics w/their float every year, because it is a huge pig (like a huge piggy bank). They've renovated their float this year to this:


Hello! Not only a pig, but a super pig! For those who don't know, Tyler LOVES piggies, and his favorite pig, Silky, is a super hero. She can stop bad guys, stop volcanoes, etc. So when he saw this float he watched it and then turned around and said, "She's just like Silky ... except for the coins popping out!" Very cute:


Oh, and the people near the float gave everyone "super hero" masks:


I love the parade. It's called Fiesta Days because it's the city celebration. But we all know it's on Pioneer Day to honor those blessed pioneers. I thought this float was especially cool with a replica of the Provo LDS Temple:


And where else will you get a parade where the kids think it's as cool to give high-fives to missionaries as it is to Smokey the Bear, Cosmo (BYU's mascot) or clowns?


This Dukes of Hazard car just brought back memories. Growing up my parents had an old Dodge Dart in the backyard that didn't run. (Boy that sounds redneck! ;) Anyway, me and my siblings would keep the windows down and play Dukes of Hazard. Of course, we were always trying to get away from bad guys and HAD to get in the car through the windows -- that was the extent of the playing every time ... ahhhh, memories ...


This was the scariest entry:

No, not because it's Jabba the Hut and a Jedi. It's because this was for a political candidate, who sat in a car and pretend to fight Jabba the Hut. You want me to vote for you because of that?!? I'm afraid that may just backfire with voters who want a sane representative. But my bro-in-law did point out that they just won the vote of every boy ages 4 to 14 ...

And the creepiest entry this year, well, I'm not sure why he was there:


We laid low the rest of the day -- just being a bit lazy and enjoying each other. (Oh, except for Becca who used the afternoon for a fun date. Oh, teenage girls ... :) Hope you also enjoyed Pioneer Day -- whether your state takes the day off or not. :)