The Young and the Restless

Part IV: 4th of July, Country Style


One of my favorite places ever to visit is my aunt's house out in the country in southern Utah. Every time I go there I leave wondering why in the world I don't live out in the country (until I have to drive 40 minutes to the closest store). It is so beautiful, the kids spend all day exploring, there is so much to do without spending a dime and it is definately a breath of fresh air. The fourth of July is also one of my favorite holidays and so being able to spend one of my favorite holidays at one of my favorite places with all my favorite people was definately the recipe for a perfect weekend. Along with some of my immediate family, there was also alot of extended family that came down, so it was fun seeing cousins that I hadn't seen in years. There were around 40 people staying there, but she's got a huge house and they just finished a nice big addition for my grandparents to live in, so there was plenty of room for everyone. We got there Friday evening and left Sunday morning but we packed so much fun into those couple of days....barbecues, fireworks, marshmellow gun fights, horseshoe tournament, tons of yummy food and snacks, late night games, guitar hero competitions, basketball games, four-wheeler rides, horseback riding, skeet shooting, playing with the baby kittens, girl parties, sleeping outside, playing cards with grandma and just hanging out talking. One night they moved their big screen tv outside then pulled out all these old couches that they used at girls camp and we had a huge movie party under the stars, it was so fun. Another fun night was when Jason and I took a midnight motorcycle ride. It was so beautiful riding out in the middle of nowhere under the bright moon....until I started getting creeped out. I started remembering their neighbor that was featured on 20/20 a while ago for practicing trepidation (I don't know how to spell it, but it's when they drill through people's skulls while they're conscious in order to release the evil spirits), or the other guy that lives in the same area that was arrested because he had killed some guy and buried him in his yard, or all the polygamists in the area that use shotguns to keep people away....yeah, that was definately a romance killer and I made Jason turn around and go back. It was still a fun ride and brought back memories of our old motorcycle days. It was the best 4th of July weekend, a huge thankyou to Aunt Angel for hosting such a fun party! We were sad to say good-bye to everyone and head back to Phoenix on Sunday. It was definately a memorable, fun-filled two weeks. I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard, ate that much or stayed up that late. I don't know how I lucked out to get such an amazing family, we enjoyed every minute we had with everyone and we can't wait until the next big get together!