July 4th

My 4th of July was wonderful! I slept in, and then I got to hang out with Dave for a bit and work on our invitations (Yes, we're going to get those out soon.). Then he and I floated the Provo River again! It was a lot of fun. We went with Isaac this time, and his brother and sister-in-law, Sean and Kathryn. The other three were in a canoe and Dave and I were in our inflatable raft (pictured a few posts below) for the first part of the trip. Then Sean and Kathryn decided that they didn't want to go all the way down the river with us. The water was quite a bit choppier than it was last weekend, and the canoe was very tippy. So Dave got into the canoe to help Isaac steer it down the river, and I maneuvered our craft all by myself! While it wasn't as fun to go down without Dave, I still had a good time. It was a beautiful day, and we got lots of sunshine. A tan, finally!

After that, Dave and I went to a BBQ that his family was having. Dave had a lot of extended family from out of town that I got to meet. It was a little stressful, because I was trying to remember everyone's names. But on the other hand, I wasn't stressed out at all about making a good impression. I felt pretty confident that his family would like me, and I KNOW that Dave loves me, which is the important thing. So it was overall a pretty fun evening. There were lots of little fireworks that the family lit, and they were getting a little creative, setting up lines of fireworks that would ignite in a chain. We were also on the route that the fighter jets from Hill Air Force Base took to fly over the Stadium for the Stadium of Fire, so it was pretty cool to see them.

I feel so blessed. I didn't have to work on the 4th of July (or the day before), I have a comfortable place to live and plenty of food, I live in a gloriously beautiful place with mountains and rivers nearby, I have religious freedom that I appreciate, I'm starting school in the fall in an area that I love, and (MOST IMPORTANTLY) I have a wonderful fiance that I love and who loves me! He is the most important thing in my life, and he makes me so happy. I hope everyone else had a great 4th of July, although I know it couldn't have been as great as mine!