Happy 4th of July

The 4th of July is a favorite holiday for both us. We spent the 3rd of July in Logan watching USU's fireworks. We took Stephen's motorcycle to Walmart to buy shirts and water guns for our adventures the next day and bought candy for the fireworks that night. We ended up watching them from one of the apartment complex's right across the street from the stadium. This was our first time watching the fireworks together. The next day for the 4th we went to Kaysville and spent the day with Stephen's family. In the morning we watched the Kaysville parade. What makes the Kaysville parade so special funny enough is when its over. After it is over the street opens up to a massive water balloon fight. People bring their trucks full of water, everyone has water guns, and the fire trucks come out with their hoses. It is crazy insane and so much fun. Stephen was so excited for the parade. He was especially excited to use his new water gun "The Gorgon!" It was the biggest baddest water gun he could find. We also got matching shirts that were on clearance and trashed them up a bit just to look cool. The water fight was just as good as Stephen said it would be. Afterwards we headed to his house to dry off and change. Then we prepared for the next phase of the day.
In Stephen's family a big tradition they have is to play phase ten on holidays (and any time the family is all together). Everyone has their own phase ten shirts with their official phase ten name on it. Stephen's amazing and wonderful family who were still just getting to know me wanted me to feel welcome and get a shirt to match everyone. I really couldn't have asked for a better family to marry into. So we went shopping to get me a shirt. His sisters helped me come up with my phase ten name and then Natalie helped me glue my name on the shirt. We ended up gluing a lot of the letters backwards. In the end it added to the character of my phase ten name. Stephen is the Steve Roller and I'm the Jenicidal Maniac. After Stephen and I took a short nap on the hammock together the games began. The game lasted so long we had to move it to the high school where we were watching fireworks that night. We never did finish the game. We played until it was to dark to see the cards.After the fireworks we headed back home to Logan. It was my favorite 4th of July yet.

Floating the canal and a little hiking

Stephen and I had so many fun adventures that first summer we knew each other. If we had a day off together or a morning free we would go to the crepery or go on a long motorcycle ride. Anything and everything. We kept ourselves extremely busy having the best summer ever. One thing we didn't do a lot of was hiking but we did manage to get one in. One afternoon before our Vegas trip we decided to hike the wind caves. On our way to the trail we stopped at KFC and spent way to much money on chicken and then headed on the hike. Once we made it to the top we had a delicious greasy chicken lunch.

One of our more exciting adventures that summer was at the end of June when we floated down the canal. I remember debating on whether or not to wear shoes. Against my better judgement I went barefoot. It was the first time I have floated the canal literally just by floating with nothing to keep me above water. It turned out being so much fun and the water felt amazing! The current was a bit fast and at times we would have to duck a lot to avoid hitting the concrete. That just made it much more exciting. We did have a number 1 rule that everyone had a buddy that they had to keep track of the whole time. My toes however didn't have a buddy to watch them and by the end they had seen better days. 

Causey Reservoir

The day Stephen and I went to Causey Reservoir with his family was such a good day. Clay wanted Stephen and I to ride in the truck with Stephen's dad. So with the windows down and no ac we headed to Causey. We brought a canoe and lots of yummy treats. It was incredibly beautiful and so peaceful. I played with Clay while he threw "huge" rocks in the water while the boys got the canopy set up. Later Stephen and I took one of the canoes out. The water felt so great that Stephen decided to jump in...from 30 feet up. After getting way to much sun and treats we all headed to Subway before going back to Stephen's house. We ended the night with a perfect campfire in the yard roasting marshmallows. 

Clay was not in the mood to smile for a picture.