i may not be a native-born american, but i sure do love the fourth of july. 
but really, what's not to love about sunshine, parades, bbq's, swimming, family, and fireworks? plus, provo is always extra fun and patriotic for the holiday.

mine and nick's festivities began the night of the third. we started out our night by going to a farewell dinner at malawi's pizza for our friends kimmi and eric. eric got a job in austria, so they're moving there for at least a year, maybe two. they're such a fun couple and will be missed over here in the u.s.a, but i'm sure they're going to have some exciting adventures living in austria! after saying our goodbyes, the hub and i went over to kerry and austin's new cute apartment, where kerry made us the cutest and most delicious lemon souffles! they were baked inside an actual lemon peel. i was very impressed with her cooking skills.

after dessert, nick, kerry, austin & i rode our bikes over to the freedom festival and moseyed around looking at all the different booths. then we attempted to ride our bikes down university avenue where the all-night party was taking place. this proved to be pretty hectic from the hords and hords of people. but it was fun to see lots of old friends from high school, plus we found a massive bike gang to cruise around the block with, plus we witnessed a girl get arrested by a grumpy cop and her dad come to the rescue. but probably the highlight of my whole night was that i saw jef holm from the bachelorette. i nerdily love to watch the bachelorette so i was pretty excited about seeing the salt lake contestant.

the actual fourth of july was very fun and very american. nicolaus and i accidentally slept in and missed the parade, then went with tyler and chantel to the 7 peaks waterpark. i even went down some steep rides, which was a big deal for me. instead of paying about $20 for a piece of pizza when lunch rolled around, we headed over to guru's to get food. but when we saw that the same company had opened a bakery right next door we decided to try that. the food was great, and the best part was that they had homemade melon ice cream that was soooo tasty. afterwards, nick and i took a break from the hot sun to spend a lazy afternoon in our nicely air conditioned apartment watching top gear. we eventually headed over to my parents' house where they were having a big bbq with lots of the students from the lds student ward that my dad has a calling in. after dinner, nicolaus and i watched some of the fireworks from the stadium of fire then did some of our own fireworks to end off the night.

hope your fourth was a good one!
here are some photos from our festivities: