day one of the fourth

the fourth of july is seriously one of the best holidays. i love being outside in the sun, hanging out with family, and getting to celebrate the greatest thing in history. we had an absolute blast over the holiday. we were able to head up to centerville this year and hang out with quin's family. we had such a good time with all of our friends and family we didn't want the weekend to end! everyday was filled with so much fun so i just had to break it down into different posts. i don't want to squeeze too much fun into just one big one!!

we left st. george thursday evening after quin finished his classes. we didn't get to centerville until pretty late but we woke up to some enthusiastic nieces and nephews! friday was a fun day to catch up with all the family members and to get ready for the festivities.

quin's parents bought an awesome four-wheeler a couple months ago and this was the first time we had been up there since they got it so we definitely took advantage of riding around the hills! quin grew up in a beautiful area. his house sits really close to the mountain and there are a ton of trails that go all around and everywhere. we had a blast riding around them. it's so beautiful up there!! i love how green it is. when you get on the side of the mountain you can look out and see most of the salt lake valley. its just gorgeous. we even ran into some cute little kids that were out hunting lizards. it reminded us of our childhood days! except we used to catch horny toads in hiko. its a bit more deserty there!

quin took me all around to places that he used to go shooting at and ride his mountain bike. i think it is always so fun to hear about stories from when he was growing up. he lived in such a great area and he definitely knew how to take advantage of it.



after playing on the four-wheeler, we got all the kids ready for the childrens parade. it's a pretty big deal for the kids. they decked their scooters and bikes all out in red, white, and blue. they all looked so cute in their clothes and matching scooters. they were all so excited! they couldn't wait to ride down the street. i think it's a great idea that centerville does that. it gives the kids something to look forward to and to be a part of. there were so many kids there too! i mean hundreds. then we all enjoyed some popsicle's afterwards.



after the children's parade we all went out for some pizza. we had such a big group though that we would've filled the whole restaurant so we just ended up taking it home. they basically didn't want our whole group in there because that meant there wouldn't be any more room for any customers! yeah...i guess you could say we got kicked out. but not without the pizza! it was delicious.

after stuffing our faces with pizza it was time for the fireworks! i absolutely love fireworks. they are so pretty and completely boggle my mind how they even work. we had a blast with the nieces and nephews, cuddling up on the lawn at the park, and hearing them oohh and ahhh at them all. they are all just so dang cute!



we had a highly enjoyable first day to our fourth of july weekend. the next couple days were just as great! especially getting to hang out with family. even my parents were up there because it was my dad's 30th mission reunion so we were able to see them a couple times.

yay for america! we are so blessed to live in such an amazing country and are so thankful to those who helped make it what it is today.