July 3rd and 4th-HOLIDAYS!

TWO consecutive days off of work!! Yay!!!

It was so nice to have two days in a row off of work where we could do what we wanted and complete long put-off errands. Friday we rock climbed with Jon and Nikki, and then we parted ways for Wilford to take a nap and for us to go to the Colonial Fest for Freedom Days. 

I have heard of the Colonial Festival before, but in all my years living in Provo, I have never gone to check it out. This year, my friend Sharon was doing a storytelling gig, and I love going to see her at these types of functions. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of her decked out in her colonial outfit and her little hemp fan she was using to cool down (it was hot), but believe me, she totally looked the part! Even more than that, her accent was awesome and it was fun to see her call up children volunteers to act out stories she narrated from the Colonial Gazette. My favorite was a little boy sitting on the front row who really wanted a turn. Sharon had already finished with the stories that needed volunteers, but she called him up anyway and improved a part for him. She is really good at what she does. 

The storytelling was a lot of fun to see, and there was so much more that we could scarcely take it all in! They had little tents with potters, blacksmiths, fresh stone oven baked bread, a military that marched through the little 'settlement' and intermittent cannon blasts. Later on in the day it got even crazier when it was announced that the candy bomber would be flying over. There were even mobs of  jay-walkers crossing busy State Street so they wouldn't miss it! It is neat how many people participated in Freedom Days and how it made me feel more patriotic to be around that environment-it is a huge blessing to live in a free country!  

Other worthwhile pursuits of our momentous two-day holiday:

• We finished the second book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy: The Two Towers

• ...so of course we had to watch The Two Towers Extended Version to celebrate. The fireworks from the Stadium of Fire served well as surround sound for the battle scenes
• We did a puzzle! You would not believe how long we deliberated in finding the perfect puzzle. We finally decided on this one:

We really wanted it to be a challenge, so the only drawback was that it was 500 pieces instead of 1000. But once we started it, we were glad it was only 500-it was enough of a challenge, thank you very much! We have found that we really enjoy doing puzzles together-a good time to talk or just pass the time together

• We had some giftcards that we decided to try and use while there were holiday sales going on. We were able to get a stroller and carseat for free, and still have left over money on the cards! It feels good to be checking things off the baby list, and we are very thankful for our generous friends who provided the giftcards.
• We found a random Coldstone giftcard that we believed had only a few dollars on it, but we had to go use the rest of it, right? Turns out it completely covered our ice cream desserts!! And that is why we love giftcards.
• In N' Out. Need I say more?
• Best Buy perusing. Chris needed to pick out a Father's Day gift from Best Buy, so we spend awhile looking through the merchandise. Storytime: Chris has a way with slyly getting us to into Best Buy for no logical reason in the past. Once upon a time, we were looking for an HDMI to AV converter cable for our old TV, so we went to Best Buy. When there, I asked where the cable would be, and Chris said, offhandedly as he took a gander through the iPhone  covers, that those cables don't exist. So then like a confused, sensible wife, I asked, "....then why are we here...?" and Chris unveiled the most mischievous face I have witnessed yet. Like I said, he has a way of getting into that store :) Plus, that is the only parking lot that has a Kinder spot where expectant mothers and moms with toddlers can park that is closer to the store. I just get a thrill to be able to use a 'special' parking spot! And at Best Buy, of all places! 
• Speaking of Father's Day, we also broke out the gummy bears I got Chris. He loves those things. But we didn't just pop those critters like popcorn. Oh no. These were authentic Albanese Gummy Bears. I was thinking these were gummy bears fresh off the boat from the other side of the world. But apparently they are from Georgia. ....same difference. But despite the location of origin let down, they were pretty good! They had a very tender texture with a matching subtle flavor. We would pull them out one by one and try to guess what flavor they were (no easy task!), and when that wasn't sufficient, we got a plate and organized them by color just so we could deduce properly. It was like a scientific experiment! A scientific experiment that held no real value, perhaps, but captivated our attention spans for hours, nonetheless. 

Delectable gummies straight from...Georgia

The reigning chaos of unguessed, mixed flavors

Don't you worry-we were able to deduce the flavors remarkably well once the experiment was complete

• Cleaning, laundry, clothes shopping and dishes. Condensed all in one bullet because we don't want to dwell on any of them or make them feel overly important.

All in all, a very successful holiday of pure awesomeness.