On July 4th, 1776, citizens of England decided that they were tired of taxation without representation and declared their independence. On this monumental day in world history the King of England, George III, wrote in his diary, "Nothing of importance happened today." Seventy-one years later, after deciding that they were tired of their Constitutional rights being overlooked, Brigham Young and some "Mormon" pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. On this monumental occasion, Brigham Young said, "This is the place"...to which many of the staunch Latter-Day Saints in his camp probably secretly thought, "Uh...are you sure? Could you ask God, again? I mean, I don't want to doubt you, Brother Brigham, but all I see is a barren desert, it's 110 degrees, and we have it on good authority that it snows almost everyday here in the winter. Could you ask the Big Man if we could move on just a little further to the coast?" And out of these two historic days came not one but TWO major holidays in my beloved state of Utah!
To many foreign to Utah, or those Utahns who hate anything LDS or who are just weary of the Church's predominance in the state, this might seem a little bit ridiculous. I can understand to some extent. But, who does not appreciate another day off of work or school? When I lived in D.C., I was more than happy to take a day off of work and school in observance of every Muslim/Jewish/Jehovah's Witness (they get a day off for not taking any days off)/Hindu/Buddhist/Atheist holiday (or not-holy-day in the case of Atheists). What's even better is when these holidays are on a weekend! My wife and I got the 5th off for national observance of the holiday. And the 4th of July weekend is a 24/7 festival in Provo! Then, she even got the 23rd off because the 24th was on a Saturday! What could be better? I'll tell you what could be better! Spending these days with Julie! Here are some pictures taken by my uber talented wife of what we did!
 |
| Julie and I enjoying Carrie Underwood performing and a great fireworks show at the Stadium of Fire! Well, at least she enjoyed the Carrie Underwood performance. |
 |
| Us catching a Bees baseball game up in Salt Lake on the 24th! It was a lot of fun and the Bees whooped up on the Sky Sox (which is a stupid name and I disapprove of anything with the name Sox in it) 17-1. We were a little disappointed that the Bees played so well because we never got to shout "Boo Bees!" Very mature, I know. |
Now, here are some wonderful pictures taken of the fireworks after the ball game by Jules! Isn't she amazing? This was done with one of the worst cameras still in use! All I can think of when I see these pictures is Ray Charles singing "America! Sweet America! My God He done shed His grace on thee!"
 |
| |
