The Fourth of July Festivities

Well, yesterday I got up at seven and left my house by seven fifteen to bring Clayton his car so that he could be at work at eight fifteen. I got less than a mile from my house, then sat at a light for a half hour, watching the runners of Provo's "Freedom Run" run past on a road that I have to cross to get to Clayton's house. I got out and asked the policeman if there was any way to get across. He said I had to wait until there was a break in the runners because it was blocked all the way from center street up to university parkway (meaning there was no way to get around. Awesome. Well, Clayton had to go to work, Freedom Run or not. So he walked the mile to where I was waiting with the car. Dumb. We turned around and he dropped me at my apartment and headed to work. It took forty-five minutes to get from my house to Staples (a 1.7 mile trek). They had the other busy north/south road blocked for the fourth of july parade. You can't get to staples any other way because it's the only road that bridges across the railroad tracks. Awesome. Clayton was not happy. Provo is "dumb" according to him (that's putting it mildly). I happen to agree that this occasion couldn't have been thought out very clearly. How can you block the two main north/south roads that run on either side of campus? (Also the east/west road that connects the two was blocked with the Freedom Carnival). My apartment complex and the several blocks surrounding it were very literally blocked in. I'm glad Provo is patriotic.

After work, which was fun, Clayton and I had a cookout at his house. We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of people who came, that we didn't think were coming. We had eleven people there including us. Including my roommate and her then boyfriend, who became her fiance before the night was over! YAY! We grilled steaks, brats, and hot dogs; then pineapple and bell peppers! Yummy! The guests brought some sides to share and we supplied some corn on the cob (on sale at wal-mart ten for a dollar this week!) The best part, however, was dessert...I was creative. Want to see?


These are my corn on the cob cupcakes!


My American flag brownies


And my candy cupcakes! (It's sweettarts and starbursts that I microwaved and made shapes with).

It was amazing. You should have been there. We played scene it and music catch phrase. Once everyone got tired of Clayton dominating both games, we switched to a card game. Only Clayton, Alex, and I had ever played it before. Guess who were the last three people in (and therefore the three worst players)? Yep, Clayton, Alex and I. :-) Good times. Great practice round.

We went outside to watch the fireworks and saw cars parked all up and down our road. Everyone, it seems, comes up to the top of Y mountain to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks show. Next year we are charging for parking. We sat on top of the car and on the wall by the driveway and had a terrific view. Although there was a fifteen minute break in the middle, and everyone thought the show was over and started to leave, the fireworks resumed and gave a decent show. Clayton claims the ones at Ft. Campbell are way better. I have no opinion, having never seen them.

Well, that was our fourth of july in a nutshell. Anybody else have good stories?