happy birthday 'merica

Since we got married - nope, back up - since David and I started dating, I've been hearing about the Nemrow family's 4th of July celebrations.  The 4th is, by far, David's favorite holiday - like it bypasses Christmas - Christmas!  His family has always pulled out all the stops to celebrate the red, white, and blue and it made a big impression on that boy of mine.  He loves everything about their family traditions: from eating KFC to the small town parade to family BBQ's to fireworks.  It's his day.

Well, we were coming up on three years of marriage and I still hadn't made it to Provo for David to introduce me to his favorite holiday Nemrow style.  So a few months back, we were looking at our summer plans, thinking about our changing family situation and said, what the hey!  Let's fly to Provo for the 4th of July!!  David has seriously been excited ever since (and, alright, I was too).

So last week the day finally came and we hopped on a plane Utah-bound.  We got in Thursday night and tried (and failed) to go to bed early to fuel up for a fun filled Friday 4th of July.  As David dutifully informed me, the celebrations start bright and early with the Provo parade on Center Street - and this year Norm and Cindy were in the parade walking with the Provo, Utah missionaries!  That was pretty fun.  I love me some small town patriotic spirit and Provo did not disappoint - I knew she wouldn't!

After the parade we headed up for lunch at Scott & Anj's house: KFC - per tradition - for the boys, and deli sandwiches for us ladies who don't care to eat fried chicken and gravy, I did help myself to that delicious coleslaw though...

The boys then headed out for a round of golf and us ladies soaked up some sun at the pool with the littles. 

After some much needed naps (not just for the kiddies), the boys got back and we started prepping for the big family BBQ that night: like over 100 people big.  The heaping pile of lettuce I prepared for the burgers?  Crazy huge.  It was so fun to see extended family, play with some babies, eat some darn good burgers, and enjoy a warm Utah evening.

Then the sun started sinking and we started hearing pops - it was firework time!  We headed back up to Scott and Anj's house up on the hill to watch every firework show in Utah valley.  Seriously!  We could probably see fireworks going off from Santaquin to American Fork and even across Utah Lake!  It was so fun.

That was one huge marathon celebration, but it was so, so fun!  I'm pro Provo 4th of July's from now on!

The rest of the weekend we just enjoyed family time and got to visit my favorite BYU Cougar!  We showed Brookie and her roommate around some of Provo's best eats: Jdawgs and Hokulia Hawaiian Shaved Ice shack.  Mmmm mmm baby, those are just a few things I miss about living in Provo.

 After a Sunday that went by entirely too fast it was Monday and time to go home.  We had a few hours in the morning to hang in Provo before our flight and so we decided to see if the BYU Bookstore had some cute baby boy clothes for our new little Cougar.  Well, that was a failure, but Brooke got out of class early so we got to see her one more time before we left and that was the best.

And then we were off back to sunny CA.  It was a great long weekend and I'm already missing those Wasatch mountains and all our family we left in their shade.  Happy birthday America - thanks for giving us an excuse to celebrate!

fail & mail

Alright, so, I failed.
I honestly didn't take a single picture all during our 4th of July family reunion festivities.  I guess I was just too wrapped up in enjoying the day, the family, the fireworks, and the fact that David didn't have to go to work.  Ah well, we had a great time, and now it's back to reality (which isn't too bad either).

In other news we got ourselves TWO lovely packages in the mail the other day.  Don't you just love getting packages?  They're pretty much the best - I'm a big fan of snail mail.

1) In honor of the upcoming London Olympics, my mom* put together a red, white, & blue party in a box, complete with pom poms, glow bracelets, and pinwheels.
* To clue you in, my mom used to have the Olympic theme song as her ring tone - we're kind of big Olympics fans over in the Tobler home.

And I'm pretty sure we're going to have to throw a big celebratory shindig for the opening ceremonies (July 27th!) - I can't wait!

and 2) our WEDDING ALBUM is finally here!  And I love, love, love, love it!  Thank you Pinhole Press!  You're the best!

a few days belated

some people have traditions for the 4th...

this family?

our tradition is to be out of town, 

(preferably boating on Lake Mead)

so when we figured we would be sticking around for the 4th this year we had to come up with something to do.

our decision:
ward pancake breakfast in the morning,
shopping for the girls in the early afternoon,
all American BBQ for lunch + a dip in the pool,

then off to the ball game, Angels vs. Detroit Tigers, for the evening!

And what a lovely 4th of July it turned out to be!

Here's hoping your 4th was full of fireworks, family and the red, white & blue!