Stadium of Fire!/Suuunday

So, I didn't have my computer yesterday so I'm combining two posts into one, which means I'll be condensing my days.

Saturday started on the couch in the basement at the Kellys, when I woke up to go see the balloon meet. We got there, Grandma and I, but the wind was too strong for the balloons to take off (even though a few people did), so I got there just in time to help clean up, and then go to breakfast. We ate at this really cool place called Mimi's cafe, which serves all sorts of delicious breakfast foods. After that I rode back to Highland in Grandpa's truck (and had a nice nap). He showed me the bike he had that he was going to give me; my uncle had fixed it up years ago, made it for mountain biking so it's got a low frame but I like it. It's nothing fancy, which hopefully means that no one will want to steal it here on campus (which still won't stop me from getting a bike lock). I rode with him as he went to bring his balloon to his friend to get it patched up (some kid had run over it at the field), and when we came back everyone else had gone. It turned out they went to Brigham's house (one of my uncles), which I was fine with; it gave me a chance to get my post about lagoon up and then have a nap. In the evening we went out to the Market Street Grill, a mainly-seafood place that also has the most amazing prime rib I have ever tasted. My aunt Liz put it best when she said: "it's like bread, but made out of meat." It was the most tender steak I've ever had. After that, my grandparents were kind enough to drop me off near the stadium, even though it meant waiting through all sorts of traffic to get me near enough. The reason they were dropping me off near the stadium was because it was the Stadium of Fire(!). For the uninitiated, it is one of the (if not the) biggest fireworks display in the country. They had all sorts of pre-show activities: Colonel Telford of SGU fame (who has some sort of real person name, but I don't remember actors) was emcee. There was a cool dancing routine, where all these girls wearing patriotic colors made a flag and stuff; it was pretty cool. The coolest part of the show was this group called the 5 browns: siblings, each of them has graduated from Juliard, and they all play piano together. They played this really cool John Williams Medley; the only problem was the venue. All playing grand pianos in an open air stadium, the sound couldn't really echo like it should: the music ended up being really flat. Other performers (less cool): there was this violin player who's famous, the Osmonds second generation, and Carrie Underwood. Then, finally, it was time for the fireworks. I took picture after picture on my phone, and put them all up on facebook here and here. As cool as they may look in the pictures, it was so much cooler to be there; the sounds, and the smells, and just being able to watch them as they kept blowing up. I love this holiday. There was an interesting part where one of the fireworks they shot up over the field misfired and flew into one of the rows on the ground. It didn't seem like anyone was seriously hurt, but still, that's not good. I was there with Kea and Taylor, and afterwards we walked back towards the creamery on 9th, waiting for Tutu to get there to pick them up. After they were gone I went straight to bed.

Today went pretty leisurely in comparison. I woke up around 9, showered and got ready for church; on the walk there I struck up conversation with this one guy, who ended up being in the elder's quorum presidency. It ended up being pretty cool, because he had me help with the sacrament. It had been a while since I last did that. Testimony meeting was pretty neat; you'd think that with it being the 4th all the testimonies would be about freedom, and the first few were, but they ended up being more about family, and the atonement (separate; but they were the two most common topics-hence the comma before the 'and'). I bore my testimony as well. After that was Elder's quorum and then Sunday school. We learned about Psalms and hymns. It was nice. After church we held a meeting for anyone interested in ward choir; we actually had a really good turn out. I'm excited for our prospects. We still have to find a place to practice, however, but I'm hopeful (anyone know if the HFAC will let us use some rooms on Sundays? Maybe during the week, if we need to). I then went over to our FHE sisters' for dinner. It was a really good meal with chicken and rice, and this really good little garnish-type thing. Following that I had a pretty long nap (I guess that's why I'm still up), and then was up for ward prayer. Immediately following that, my grandparents came by with the rest of the stuff I had left at their house (as well as a blender: I can now make German Pancakes!!! (and yes, that did deserve to be capitalized)). Thennnn, I uploaded the pictures, looked for youtube vidoes to put up, and wrote this. Now I am now, and writing more would just get overtly detailed and pedantic, so I'm going to stop. Enjoy the fireworks! And happy Our Country Is Super Awesome Day!