There's nothing better than spending the 4th of July in Utah. I love the outdoors, the time spent with family, and the bombs that get dropped every year. One year, we found out that Billy and Ruby had been uninvited to Dave and Carissa's wedding after casually mentioning that Ruby had Hepatitis C (which meant that Dave would have it, too). Dave and Carissa were not vaccinated, and Carissa had to hurry and get vaccinated before their wedding night. Another year, we found out that Bill's parents were not endowed in the temple. I guess they'd never wanted to be sealed together as a family. Eventually, Bill's dad got sick, and Bill's mom left him and got married shortly after. She abandoned him on his death bed. Wow. Another year, we found out that Ruby's birthday wasn't actually August 5th. She'd been born at home when her dad was traveling and when the time came to report the birth, it was an estimate. She considers her birthday to be August 5th, though.
So this year, we found out that Sidney is engaged! And we found out at the same time as Lily and Marcus. Sidney had gone to Texas to see her boyfriend Mahonri, and they were driving back to Utah. Sidney told Lily over the phone. It was a shock because Mahonri had not asked for Marcus's permission, and it was kind of dropped at the end of the conversation, as a "by the way...". Oh, and the very next day, Sidney confessed that they'd been engaged since May.
Honestly, the red flags around this guy are mind-blowing. They're keeping their engagement a secret. He's an illegal immigrant who needs to marry an American in order to become legal, go to school, get a job, have a driver's license, fly on an airplane, get medical insurance, etc. He used to be in a gang. He has been caught lying and exaggerating on quite a few topics. Sidney's friends don't like him. Sidney has had to separate herself from her friends in order to be with him. And she's been spending the night at his place. It's lie after lie after lie. I don't know how anyone can build a relationship on that, but I hope she gets her happily ever after.
Sooooo... anyway... The kids played with the chickens a lot, and Kenai the dog.
Then on the 4th, we went up to the lot. We rode 4-wheelers, played some games, talked a bunch, and ate yummy food. We went to a Rodeo that evening. It was the kids' first rodeo (and my second). We didn't like the way they treated the calves, roping them around the neck and tying their legs together. It was actually really sad.
We ate rolled ice cream at our all-time favorite "Sweet Rolled Tacos".
We also had lunch with Bill's 2 sisters and 1 brother-in-law. All of them have lost their spouse recently.
We went to the lake.
We played with puppies and got pedicures.
Meanwhile, the boys went golfing at Thanksgiving Point.
And we saw the movie Thor, Love & Thunder. We also saw Chris Hemsworth's naked butt. I covered Alexis's eyes, but she later confessed she could still see through the cracks of my fingers.
Time flew by, and I wish we could have stayed longer. The kids absolutely love going up to Utah. Logan and Taylor hang out with Charlie, who's the same age as them. And Kendall hangs out with Ashlyn and Meili, who are 3 years older than her. And Alexis hangs out with all the grown-ups. Haha.
I took this picture after Ruby asked Taylor to come over so that she could give him a bag full of snacks for the road. Then she loudly said that he was her favorite grandchild. And yes, the other grandchildren heard it.
On the way home, we stopped in Vegas. We ate at Tom Colicchio's restaurant and saw Shin Lim's magic show. Again, I wish we could have stayed longer, but I'm still glad we could make it happen.
