Happy Birthday America!! We love the 4th of July! It was so fun to be together as an extended family for the celebration this year! We had a full day planned and the first thing on the list was the Freedom Run. A couple of months ago, Misty asked if anyone wanted to join her in signing up for the 5K Freedom Run. Tanner has been running cross country for a while, so I thought it would be fun to sign up with him. Then Kaden and Trevor heard about it and they wanted to do it as well. We spent several weeks training in our neighborhood and we felt like we were ready - well mostly! My goal was to run the whole thing.
It was pretty exciting to be at the start line. I was amazed by the huge crowd of people that was waiting to start the race! I was excited and nervous. Trevor and Kaden were rearing to go, but Tanner wasn't too excited. He didn't really want to run, but he did and he finished well! The boys are pretty competitive, so we decided that we would all run at our own pace.
Misty and Lindsay are pros at this! They were doing their dance routine to help get everyone excited!!!
Once the race started it was a bit interesting trying to get through all the people. Some people were running and others were walking. It soon equaled itself out and we were able to run without any problem.
The run went well. Mostly we were all in our own little running worlds, but it was fun to run through the areas I remember from my college years. We also had some people cheering us on along the way! Some of the family were camped along the race route cheering us along!
I did pretty well the whole time. I had driven the course the day before with Misty and Lindsay, so I knew that the last part of the route was a gradual incline. I was feeling good at the beginning of the incline, but it soon got to me. About a block or two from the end of the incline my legs were hurting and they just stopped running. I don't really remember making the decision to stop running, I just did. I walked a couple of steps and then a lady ran up beside me and encouraged me not to stop. She told me that we were almost to the end and she would run the rest of the way with me. It was amazing to me that she stopped to help me, there were several other people walking around me, but she did and she did help me to start running again! I am thankful to her for keeping me going. I began running and I didn't see her again. It was because of her that I met my goal of running the whole thing (minus a couple of steps)! Thank you to my running angel!
We all had a successful and fun run! We all improved on our training times. Trevor actually won first place for his age group! That was pretty exciting! His time was 26:20. Tanner came in next with a time of 27:33. I was next, coming in at 28:44 (I actually finished 19th in my age group - amazing!) Then Kaden came in at 30:41. Misty and Lindsay came in together and we all joined up again for a victory picture!
We waited for the race to finish, then we attended the awards ceremony to cheer for Trevor. Needless to say, Trevor was pretty excited!! During the ceremony they announce the times of the first, second and third place winners. We found out that Trevor beat the 2nd place guy by about a minute! Trevor's award was really cool. What a fun surprise to have on such a fun day! Congratulations to all the runners!!
After the race, we headed back down to the middle of the race route to where the rest of the family was waiting. They had saved a good spot for us to watch the 4th of July parade! We were all excited to see the parade. Once it started the kids moved out onto the street to get a first hand look!
 |
| I love the salute!! |
Look at these cute girls in their 4th of July best!
What would a parade in Provo be without the missionaries!
One of the highlights was seeing Cosmo (BYU's mascot)! He ran and jumped onto a trampoline then dunked a basketball! Pretty fun to watch!!
The parade was a lot of fun! It was a little hot at times, but we rotated in and out of the shade, so we were fine. I loved watching the expressions on the little kids faces as they saw the floats and special characters come by! Our kids haven't actually attended a parade before, so it was a fun way to celebrate the 4th!
   |
| This float was parked a couple streets down from my parents house! |
Once we got home we got cleaned up and ready for the next big event of the day. Ashlyn got the best little bath tub in Nana and Papa's house - the kitchen sink! It was just her size and she loved it!
Our final, and much anticipated, event of the day was The Stadium of Fire! Everyone was very excited to hear some great music and see some great fireworks!! It was packed inside and outside of the BYU stadium. The cool thing was I actually saw an old BYU roommate of mine!
Unfortunately, the night was not without incident. While we were waiting for the show to start, Mason started feeling sick. Layne took him down to the first aid station, but he still wasn't doing well. Papa was such a good sport and took Mason home so everyone else could stay and watch the show. We were all sad they had to miss the show.
The show was great! It started off with three guys parachuting into the stadium trailing american flags. It was a cool way to open the show!
Having fun during the show!
They had some great performances to honor the United States. One of my favorite parts was the dancing slinkies!
Once it started to get dark, Aunt Michelle pulled out the glow sticks! They are so much fun! We love them!! Michelle found these really cool lightsaber looking glow sticks, so they were a big hit with the boys! They added to the fun atmosphere.
Kelly Clarkson was the big performer this year! She did a great job. We had fun singing and dancing with her - well, at least the girls and the little boys!
The fireworks were really cool! It's hard not to like fireworks! They were a perfect ending to our day. What a fun 4th of July!
No comments:
Post a Comment