next stop: Provo

If you ever get the chance to be in Provo, Utah on the fourth of July, take it! It is so much fun! We started the day in downtown Provo to eat doughnuts and watch the parade. The streets were lined with spectators wearing red, white, and blue, and the parade was full of marching bands, horses, and pageant queens. It doesn't get more patriotic or American than that.

My parents' friends own a beautiful old house on Center Street, which is the perfect spot to view the parade. We crammed on their lawn with lots of other people and enjoyed the show. That night we attended the Stadium of Fire. Journey headlined the night, and the firework show was incredible.

Some other friends of my parents have a home in Provo Canyon. They are very generous and always let us use their pool when we're in town. Elliot is really getting good at his cannon balls.

But seriously, that view. It's killer.

Other fun things we did in Provo: we drove by all of my old houses, visited the BYU, went to the Bean Life Museum, ate at Waffle Love, and admired the incredible mountains that I never really appreciated when I lived there. But the real highlight, at least for my kids, was this:

My dad got tickets to a technical rehearsal and a live taping for Studio C. My kids went bonkers! It is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to them, I'm sure of it. If you aren't familiar with the live sketch show on BYUtv called Studio C, do your kids a favor and check them out of youtube. So funny and clean and creative. It was really neat to be in the studio and watch them live.