this is my town

This past week has been Fair Day's here in Heber.  It was our first time experiencing this, and it was pretty cool.

There was stuff going on all week, but we narrowed it down to just a few things.

We went to our first Heber parade, and it was a serious small town, candy throwing, band playing, horse riding, prom queen waving, cool car driving, good time.  In my opinion, it was how a parade should be.

We went to a parade in Park City on the 4th of July, and were so disappointed.  No candy, HUGE crowd, boiling hot, we had to walk or ride a shuttle forever  just to get to it, and it was not a good parade.  It felt to restricted and boring.  I figured that the days of good ol' fashion parades were over.

I was thrilled that the parade here was so much how I remember parades growing up.  The kids were enchanted with all of the noise, horses, fire trucks, cars and candy.  I loved how everyone knew at least someone on every float, there was a lot of clapping and cheering, and it was easy to find a spot to watch. We all had a great time!  Heber rocks!

Right after the parade, we dropped Luke at off at home with a babysitter and headed off to the Mountain Valley Stampeded Rodeo.

IT WAS AWEOMSOME!

They had sky divers drop in with the flag.
They started the rodeo with a prayer.
There was a guy on a motorcycle that jumped over a truck and a horse trailer.
There were 18 bull riders...much to Sam's delight.
There were calf ropers, barrel racers, clowns, and everything rodeo you can imagine.


It is actually one of the bigger pro rodeos in the circuit, and it did not disappoint.  It was so much fun.  It made me want to sell everything, move to a ranch, and have all us of become cowboys and cowgirls.  It was that cool!

The rodeo ended with an incredible firework show right over our heads.  I have been sad that most shows I go to now, don't have patriotic music to them anymore. 
This one did, and it was so cool.  It was a huge production, and we all loved it!

I smell a new tradition blooming for us.  This hit the top of the awesome list for our whole family.  Mary and Sam fell asleep talking about cowboys, bull riders, and fireworks.
I went to bed feeling rich, wholesome and fulfilled... and so grateful that my children were able to experience this feeling that is so quickly being lost in society.  The feeling of respect, patriotism, hard work, love for people and God, and strong commitments.
 Wow, we live in such an awesome town!