4th of July Festivities

The 4th of July is an awesome holiday!  Not only because it involves fun family traditions, but because we celebrate our freedom in this country and the men and women that fought for it.  I'm very grateful I was born in the United States with all of these privilages and freedoms.

Well this year we were supposed to celebrate the holiday with the Guymon side of the family, but this weekend happened to be when Ray needed to herd the cows up onto the mountain for the summer, so we actually ended up spending it with the Tidwell/Ford side.  We started out the morning going to the Centerville Parade, which is tradition.  My grandparents still rope off an area in front of the white church on Main Street for us to come last minute and set up our chairs.  We like this spot because it stays pretty shady for the duration of the parade, although this year it was so nice outside, we were almost too cold in the shade. 

Josh, Shane, Brooke, and Travis smiling quickly because I was interupting their parade watching.

Brooke, Brianna, Amanda, Kevin, and Kathy

Brianna, Amanda, Reed, Sheri, Grandma Ford, and Grandpa Ford getting ready for sirens to begin.

After the parade we headed over to see my Great Grandma Ford.  The last time I had seen her was on Mother's Day and she was doing really well.  When we got there on Saturday, July 3, I couldn't help but cry.  She wasn't doing so well and she had lost a lot of weight.  We couldn't understand what she was saying, but my mom said to her, "We love you Grandma" and she responded with "I love you too" and that was all I needed to hear and understand from her.  That made me happy. I really love my Great Grandma Ford and I was always glad to see her sitting in the chair as I walked into my Grandparents house. Even though  it is sad she passed away yesterday (July 6) and is no longer with us, I know that she is happy and healthy in heaven and she gets to meet my sweet Great Grandpa Ford, Keith, who she has lived without for the past 10 years. I couldn't be more grateful for what I know happens after this life.  It makes death temporal, and it gives me comfort to know she is in a much better place.

On a happier note, after that we went to KFC to pick us up some chicken.  Our family and Kathy's family went to Bountiful Park to eat our food at the bowery.  Me, Trav, my dad, and Shane had a good time throwing the football around, and then I played frisbee with Kathy, my mom, Brooke, and Brianna.  It was the most enjoyable 4th of July weather that I can remember.  It lingered right around 80 degrees, so we were able to enjoy the outdoors all day.  After the park, we went back to my family's house and had a BBQ, played "nines", and several games of volleyball.  I didn't even realize this until the next day, but we didn't do our own fireworks and we didn't go see any fireworks.  I kind of missed that part of Independence day.  I guess we'll have to see if we can work something out for Pioneer Day.  It was such a fun and eventful day, and I'm glad we have a reason to celebrate....freedom!

**More pictures to come...hopefully**

Manti Pageant

This year we decided to go to the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti.  We went on Friday, June 25, 2010.  We drove down after I got off work and stopped at the Malt Shop on the way into town where we ate cheeseburgers, fries, and shared a delicious oreo shake. 

We arrived in our seats about 45 mins to show time.  There are a total of 14,000 seats set up and I bet there were about 14,000 people there.  I have seen the pageant before, but it is funny how it seemed like a whole new production to me.  It was so good!  I just loved it!  It goes through the story of Joseph Smith and him going to the Sacred Grove, and then receiving the gold plates and he begins to translate them.  This is when the play shifts to Book of Mormon stories, and then they shift back out to when Joseph Smith gets martyred.  Then they walk through Brigham Young becoming the 2nd President of the Church and the Mormon pioneers crossing the plains.  It ends with a husband dying on the plains and reunited with his wife in heaven.  They light up the temple and have angels singing on the right side of it.  It was so spiritual and I loved how much I learned and how my testimony was strengthened.  I recommend to go when they get a chance because it is free and I couldn't have spent my weekend doing anything better.

After the pageant, we drove over the mountain to Huntington to visit Trav's family.  Trav and his younger brother, Mark, played in a golf tournament and their team took 2nd place.  I spent a lot of time chatting with Marian and helping her with dinner.  We ended the night playing Apples to Apples with Adam, Heidi, Ashley, and Austin, and it was full of fun and tons of laughs.  Overall, our visit was too short, but we always enjoy spending the weekend with them.