Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. Why do I love seeing exploding lights in the air and watching colorful floats go by? No idea. I think it’s because the Fourth has always been a time of friends and family for me, so even as the years have passed and people have come in and out of my life, it’s always a positive memory.
Bountiful always does their fireworks on the 3rd of July, at the Eaglewood Golf Course. I’m not sure when they started this tradition, but it’s become quite the spectator gathering. There are thousands of people there, gathering with friends and family to wander the golf course for food and live music until dark. Usually we sit with my parents, but we decided to head up to a friend’s whose home borders the golf course. Mary Jane and her sister Lily Mae came with us because for some reason, even though they’ve lived in the area for seven years, they’ve NEVER been to the Eaglewood fireworks. From where we sat, the fireworks were literally right over our heads. It was fun catching up with some of my good friends and enjoying a night of peaceful explosions. I feel so grateful to live in a place where I can enjoy events like this. Last year while we were watching fireworks, Colton noted how we were so happy to be here watching and listening to these explosions, while in another country these same noises are the sounds of violence, death, and destruction. It can put a bit of a somber view to fireworks, which are a celebration here, but I feel that it’s important to not forget how fortunate we are to live in a safe place, wherever that may be.
The following morning we awoke bright and early to go boating with Colton’s family. We went to Utah Lake, the first time for us. I never realized how large Utah Lake is. But even on the Fourth, there was plenty of room for everyone to boat. We found some good skiing spots and took a few runs each.
For Christmas a couple years ago we got an Air Chair/Sky Ski which we have yet to master. Colton and I were able to at least get out of the water, which is a large improvement from last year, where we basically water-boarded ourselves trying to drag the ski out of the water. I felt like I was finally sort of getting the hang out if, and it was even starting to be really fun.
It was a fun day of skiing, and we went home exhausted. Later that night we went to my parents’ house to watch all the fireworks in our neighborhood. Utah recently made aerial fireworks legal for personal use (though the size is still limited, but no one cares) so we sat on the roof and received a constant 360 degrees fireworks show. I wish I’d recorded the sound, I’d never seen that many fireworks going off before.
And somehow, the mosquitoes still found their way up to the roof to eat us alive.
