Fourth of July Fun

The 4th of July in Provo is pretty awesome. We decided to take advantage of all the 'Freedom Festival' festivities that we could.

• Early Friday morning we went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival. We brought breakfast, sat on a blanket and watched the balloons inflate and fly up into the air. Parker's favorite was Smokey the Bear.
• On Saturday, I ran the Freedom Run 5k with my good mission friend Katie. I was a little nervous because I hadn't really been running much, with all of the packing, moving, and unpacking. But once again, I ran the whole time and finished (a little slower than my first 5k though). My sister Jill ran the 10k and got a PR. She has been working on getting faster. It was fun to run the same race as her, although she has been running for 13 years and I am just starting. I did see Steve Young cross the finish line. And of course, I stalked him to get a picture. Paul, his sister Kim, Parker and Autumn watched the race from our front yard.
• Parker wanted to run in a race also. So we pinned my number on him and he ran down the street.
• Paul, Parker, Autumn, Kim and I headed down to the Parade. We had great seats in the shade. Parker loved the whole thing; the bands, the floats, the candy thowers, and the cars and trucks, he was excited to see Cosmo Cougar, just a little afraid, but he especially loved Smokey the Bear, who happened to be on one of the trucks.
  
  
  
  

After the parade, we drove up to Pocatello to spend the rest of the day with my brother, Andrew, and his family, my sister, Jill, and her family, and my brother Mark. We had a tasty BBQ and watched some good fireworks. My brother Andrew blessed his baby girl, Paige, on Sunday. We were so happy to be able to be there and be part of her special day. It is always fun to be together with family.

Back in The 'Vo

We made the trip back to Provo in one day this time. Luckily, it was pretty uneventful. We packed the car the night before, then got up early and left at about 6AM the next morning. After a long drive and a few stops, we rolled into Provo at about 8:30pm. Parker and Autumn never even cried! It was so fun to be 'home' and be in our very own place. The people who sublet our place while we were gone fixed it up a bit and even left us a little gift. Parker and Autumn remembered our home here and had fun playing with their old toys and running/crawling around. A few days later, Parker and our neighbor, James, were reunited. They picked up right where they left off.
I am amazed at how everything fell into place for our externship in Seattle. We found a great deal on a place for our whole family to stay, we found someone to sublet our place for the exact time that we were going to be gone and were able to be there for the Jones Family Seattle Trip. I am so grateful for everyone we met and all of the fun things we were able to do. We had a lot of fun with our little family and I really have come to love the Pacific Northwest and who knows? Maybe we will find our way back there again someday...

Jones Family Fun in Seattle

Our last weekend in Seattle was the Seattle Marathon Weekend. All of Paul's family* gathered to watch Carin, Kevin and Lindsey run the marathon and Steven and Danelle run the half-marathon. It was pretty amazing to watch them cross the finish line. I just might feel motivated to do at least a half-marathon some day.

Some other activities from the weekend included: visiting Pike Place Market, a trip on the ferry to Bainbridge Island, lots of hotel pool fun, dinner at BJ's, a barbecue at our place in Bothell, a visit to the Seattle Temple, a Snoqualmie Falls hike, and Beach fun. It was so fun to be together with everyone! We love you all!

*Melissa, Trevor and Aaron were not able to come. We missed you guys!