Sunburns, Fireworks of Happiness, and Hydrant Horsies

After leaving the baptism, we headed down to my mom's house to change out of our nice clothes. We then headed over to the Provo temple to set out some chairs and blankets to reserve our free viewing spot for the Stadium of Fire. We were under the impression that we would have to be there all day and came well prepared with food and games and deodorant and sunscreen, and, well, a lot of stuff. When we got there, there were a few other reserved places, but it was pretty empty. This meant we got our pick of spots, and we got to leave. We enjoyed an afternoon in the University Mall where we saw Glenn Beck at his book signing (Ross was soooo excited for this!) and I got a GREAT deal on a pair of capris at Mervyns! 75% off! They were actually meant to be regular shorts for older people, but my little midget legs made them fit like capris- it was great! Ross was worried about it being too hot back outside, so we went to Shop-Ko and got some cheapie little water guns. We also went back to my mom's house for a while to use her internet connection- I mean to spend some quality time with my loving family! :)

At about 6:00 we all met up back at our little spot and enjoyed some Hot N' Ready Pizza (thanks Caulene!) and a lot of running around with squirt guns. We had invited my parents and sisters, and my Uncle Jay's family to join us, but Jay and Lara and their kids backed out last minute- which was sad, but we were VERY happy to have our other Wallace cousins join us. Allen and Carrie's kids came and reminded me just why I haven't had a boy yet! They were very rough and hilarious with the water guns. Carrie- your kids crack me up! I have some great pictures, but my camera battery is charging, so I will have to post those later.

We had a direct shot of the stadium from where we were at, and when the wind was just right we could even hear the announcers and singers. Some little girls walked by us all decked out in Hannah Montanna merchandise, and they got so excited when they saw the lights from the stadium. They started cheering and said, "Daddy, look! Those are Hannah Montanna's lights! We can see her lights! How cool is that, Daddy?! Hannah Montanna is right over there!" It was cute. We could tell when she got on stage because pink spotlights started blaring all around, and the croud (the girls in there at least) just went wild.

The fireworks started a little later than we had hoped due to some wind problems. They were also a little bit anti-climactic because they had to stop a couple of times and wait for the wind to die down again. All-in-all it was a good time though, and we will definitely do it again next year! We didn't get home until about 12:30, but we found out the next day that we ended up pretty lucky because both of my sisters and my mom got home around the same time as we did, and we had to go 40 more miles than they did. We found a good sneaky back way that wasn't quite as backed up as the rest of the roads.

The next morning found us up bright and early again for my cousin Annika's baptism. I have to say that it was a little weird to have back-to-back baptisms for my neice and cousin- just shows you the different age groups we fit into on the two sides. We are the younguns of the Goodmans, but the old ones of the Jones/Wallaces. Lara asked my mom and me to help with the music, and everything went really well. My Grandma Wallace sent me back a few years when she gave close to the same talk that she gave at my baptism. I can never hear the story of Samuel the Lamanite without hearing my cute Grandma's voice in my head comparing the protection of the Holy Ghost to 'The Force'! It is a classic, and it always makes me cry- something I get from Grandma Wallace as well.

After the baptism we all went to a park where Lara had, as usual, an AMAZING spread for lunch, complete with barbecue beef sandwhiches, fresh fruit, cherry cheesecake and Krispy Kreme donuts. We rested in the shade and talked for a while, trying to recover from the previous late night and the bountiful feast we had just partaken of, and it was nice to enjoy some conversation with family and friends. I love all of my aunts and uncles, but I have always had a special bond with my Uncle Jay. I think it is mostly because he is closer to me in age than the others and he sees me as more than just his little niece. I am getting clsoer to the others now that I am an old wife with kids and other things that are relatable to them, but Jay has always made me feel like I was right on his level. I thoroughly enjoy talking with him and Lara, even if it does mean we have to deal with a bunch of kids (my 2, and his 6).

The rest of the day was pretty lazy, and we liked it that way. We lazed around my parent's house until Jay and Lara came over to play some games. After a very loud game of Balderdash, we did some fireworks in my mom's driveway. This has kind of become a neighborhood tradition. Jay and Lara usually bring their brood on over, and we have a cute nieghbor across the street from my mom's house who brings over all of her adoptive kids. it is quite a big group for such tiny little pyrotechnics! It is always a lot of fun with good food (Danielle- I love those caramel apples!) and some great conversation. The big highlight of most years is hearing all of the silly names that the fireworks have and trying to figure out why they were named that. (We are all very easily amused. Life jsut seems to be more fun that way.) This usually involves lots of silly plots and makes for some good inside jokes.

This year, Heather was the designated firework lighter personage, and she did a great job with her lovely assistants. She decided to cheer everyone up (since we were all in such a bad mood from the awesome people and amazing goodies. . .) by affixing 'happiness' to pretty much every noun she used- especially the firework titles. "This is the Evil Flaming Dragon of Happiness! Who wants a sparkler of Happiness? I give you the Army Tank of Hapiness." The funniest part of the night was when Caulene lit a fountain that was actually named 'The Fountain of Happiness'. It sounds silly, but it was great fun, and we were all dying laughing!

Emma, for some reason, was entirely disinterested in the fireworks, and decided that it was Grandma and Grandpa's job to entertain her. They were not at all upset about this. They are always good sports like that. She was so tired, and yet so full of energy (not sure how to explain this phenomena, but it is true!) that she was literally running around in circles in the yard doing a funny little dance and singing lots of little songs at the top of her lungs. My dad could not stop laughing. He about died when she sat down by the fire hydrant in their yard and started using the chains as reigns and was saying, "Neigh, neigh! Go horsey, go horsey!" It was seriously cute! The night ended with the finale of "The Tiki Mon of Happiness" which was pretty awesome! We cleaned up and said our goodbyes and ended our entirely exhausting weekend.

We actually skipped a couple of other family things on Sunday because we were so tired of driving around and just needed some time to ourselves. Emma was too drippy in the nose to go to nursery, so we used her as an excuse to sleep in and relax at home all day. It was worth any guilt we felt. We all needed a break! Oh- and I must mention here that Sara totally sealed in gold her title of "Best Baby Ever, Ever EVER!!" She was amazing that entire weekend with minimal crying, and maximal smiling and giggling. My only complaints were the 'blow-outs' that she did in very public places, but even then she was perfectly content to sit in it until we got her home. Seriously, we didn't even notice two of them until we got home from wherever we had been. She is such a good baby!

Thank you to all of our family members for making the efforts to be with us. It was so good to see everyone, and we hope it won't be too long before we have an excuse to see you again. We love you all!