4th of July Weekend

I. Love. Fireworks. I've always loved them. Most people I know love them as well. I have been spoiled, working at Disney. Every night, for 3 years, I got to watch amazing firework shows. Even before then, we had awesome fireworks at BYU-Idaho. When I lived in Idaho, I loved that we could set off fireworks for the 4th and 24th of July. I would always save my money for months in order to purchase a handful of fireworks. Now that I'm living in Utah, I still save up a few months to spend way too much on them. The best part? I love that my niece is old enough to stay up and light some with me!

Last year I was on the other side of the world and wasn't able to set off my own fireworks. I wanted to make up for it this year, so I flew my "little" brother, Curtis, up for the weekend. I had most of the fireworks purchased, but let him pick out a big finale firecracker. He didn't disappoint.

We spent a lot of time in Provo with our sister's family and Curtis got to meet his nephew. It was really precious to see the 2 together. And the girls loved that he was so tall and could jump on their "horsey" whenever he was close to the ground or a couch. We also went to the Provo street fair and cooked in the sun. Awesome.

Mass photo upload in 3...


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Of course we got them animal balloons! Unicorns to be exact...

Wasn't too sure about Iron Man at first...

She wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel, and was okay until we got about halfway up. Poor thing!

Life is hard...

Oh, he's getting so big! He doesn't sit still any more...I put him on his back and turned around...

I guess I should explain the next few pictures. Russ's work has Nerf wars all of the time, so he's always on the lookout for blasters. He and Curtis went up to Cottonwood Heights to pick up a few monsters...

Little girlies couldn't really hold them up for very long...

E couldn't wait to get ahold of one of the sparklers!

#nofear

Big girl got to help light a few of the smaller fireworks (mainly flowers)

Curtis liked to light 6-8 flowers at a time

E with cute neighbor friend

Favorite of the night...the huge crab!

Curtis picked out a huge firework that ended up being simply AMAZING!

The end result...and a few of them had warnings to douse immediately, since they tend to relight spontaneously!

Couldn't help but give the girlies tons of glowsticks!

Curtis' final meal in Utah this trip: he treated me to Five Guys...

Bubble Run 2015

As part of my Yes Year, Jane suggested that we sign up for the Bubble Run 5k. This was the first time that it was going to be in Salt Lake City and it sounded like fun. Plus, it wasn't too pricey to sign up. At the last minute, we got Wendy to sign up too! It was so much fun to run through the bubble bogs and run past the strollers...although I usually question my choice to run a 5k about halfway through the race...

Once again, I brought my GoPro and put it to work. I love it! Get ready for picture overload!

Ragnar 2015

A few months ago, my former roommate, Kristin, posted a request on her Facebook wall for Ragnar volunteers. Ragnar teams that have a runner from the place where the race is at is required to produce 3 volunteers for the race. I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but when the shifts are hours long, in the middle of nowhere, and at all hours of the night, it can be pretty tough to scrounge up some willing friends. Since I didn't have any plans yet for that weekend (it was still pretty far out), I signed up and let her know. Pretty soon after, I heard from her team captain, Lindsey. She let me know that there was another type of volunteer, called a "SWAT" volunteer..."Sweaty, Wet, And Tired." These particular types of volunteers manage the other volunteers and have shifts for about 12 hours straight. Would I be interested in that, she asked? Why not! #YesYear2015

After applying online to be a SWAT (apparently there's a tough screening process since we would potentially be in charge of other people) and a brief phone interview, I was accepted and given an assignment. I was to manage Exchange #16 in Henefer, with 22 volunteers between 6:30pm-7:00am. Woof. I was excited as this was my first real experience with Ragnar. I will NEVER run this race, but am happy to help. Hopefully I'll be able to volunteer for Kristin's team every year!

Site of the exchange...complete with a dozen of the cleanest port-o-potties I've ever seen! Notice the lack of street lights...

Standard selfie on the route...and it's really HOT!

Our exchange was an up-and-back...meaning the runners didn't continue past us; rather they ran up to the church, exchanged runners, then ran back the way their teammates came...we didn't have a spotlight or any other street lights, so it was a little confusing at some points of the race.

Watching the sunset towards the beginning of the race...

Yes...my sunglasses match my awesome vest that all of us were required to wear...

The actual exchange/chute is between the orange cones where my volunteer was standing.

Some of my awesome 1st shift volunteers wearing the swag I brought for them...and the hats/vests provided by Ragnar!

Glow necklaces staring to fade around 4am

Waiting for the sunrise around 5am...with the last few runners nowhere to be found!

My exchange was fortunate enough to have one of the largest parking lots for the race vans. Unfortunately, the entrance/exit routes that Ragnar provided weren't the best...we had major traffic issues at prime time (about 1:00am)...but my awesome volunteers were able to figure out a better flow, so we were able to move the hundreds (yes...hundreds) of vans that were coming in and out of our parking lot. 

After working 9 hours of a regular day at the U, then driving 1 hour to get to Henefer, then working a 12 hour volunteer shift where I was again on my feet the entire time...I'm so surprised I was able to function. Granted, I did have to stop in Park City on my way home (at 7:00am) to take a quick power nap in a parking lot before I finished the drive home. I made it home to shower and sleep a bit. I fell asleep around 8:00...and woke up at 4:00pm. I guess I was a little tired...?

Finally...an empty parking lot!