To Utah and Beyond!

I'm finally home and have oodles to tell you so let's start with the rest of my vacation.

I arrived in Provo with my parents just in time to see the fireworks Saturday night from the Stadium of Fire, which reminds me, one of my 100 things about myself should have been that I was a Stadium of Fire dancer one year, which if you know me does not really suit my personality at all. How did that happen? My family will never let me forget it.

Sitting there watching the fireworks made me a little sad because as much as I HATED Provo when we moved there from Hawaii, I miss it so much. I miss running into people I knew in high school (although I could do without ever running into a few ex-boyfriends I would like to forget existed). I miss billboards on the freeway for cheesy Mormon products that you would never see anywhere else. I miss the BYU bookstore (why am I so obsessed with that place?). I miss knowing all of the neighbors. I miss J-Dawgs (which was not open the entire time I was there!). I miss the mountains. I miss knowing what direction I'm heading while I'm driving because I can see the mountains. I miss sprinklers (they don't really have sprinklers in Ohio because it rains so much).

OK, I've got to stop or this could go on forever. It's a good thing that I started missing Larry even more than all of those things or I wouldn't have wanted to go home, especially now that a lot of my extended family has moved to Utah. Growing up we didn't have a lot of family around so big family gatherings were rare. It was so nice to get together with everyone while I was there.

I think I've mentioned this before, but the Fourth of July has become a huge event in the Borup family. My cousins saved our spot for the parade route on Sunday and spent the night out there Monday to ensure that we would have plenty of space to cause a ruckus during the parade, and believe me, we always cause a ruckus. My family is pretty rowdy at the parade. My uncle gets the whole crowd chanting, and this year we all had to wear matching t-shirts for Tomasso's, an Italian ice shop that my uncles are opening at the Shops at Riverwoods later this month, so there was no pretending that I wasn't a part of this crazy group. Here are my parents in their parade garb.
Some of my cousins and my aunt and uncle always run in the race before the parade so we had to get there at 6:30 to take our turn saving our parade spot so we were a little tired. It was worth it to experience to normal chaos of my cousin Whitney running up to get her annual picture with the llamas, and my Uncle Cory calling out each politician's nickname so we can watch the politician pretend that they remember him because they think they know him. This year my grandparents were there and my grandma was forced to get up and help carry the banner for the Utah Democrats because everyone teases her about being the only Mormon Democrat and the Marines came into the crowd to pose with my Grandpa who was also a marine. You really have to love the Provo Freedom parade because it's about the only place you can see a huge group of missionaries marching in the parade.
After the parade we had a big barbecue at my parent's house, and that night we got together for fireworks at my Uncle Tom and Aunt Shawn's house. The most entertaining part was the master of ceremonies, my 11-year-old cousin Weston. I've never seen someone so excited to light the fireworks. His mom said he begged her everyday to go buy the fireworks and once she did, he would sit in front of them practically drooling. He prepared a special vest of the occasion with everything he needed for the fireworks.I was also able to visit Grandpa Ford every day I was there. He's still in a rehabilitation center but he's seems like he's doing pretty well. I think he's a favorite of some of the employees there because they're always joking around with him. This is his version of smiling for a picture.
I also got to spend a little time with my best friend from home, Marnie. I'm not the best at keeping in touch with her, but whenever we get together it feels like we've never been apart. I'm just lucky to know her.Now I'm back in Ohio so I'll try to get back to posting regular updates. Talk to you soon!