In July of 2015 we took a trip to Utah for a family reunion. We wanted to do something really fun with just our family before hand though, so we went a day or two early and stayed with my Aunt and Uncle in Saratoga Springs, Utah.
Lydia got to meet and hold my cousins hamster.
The next day we packed up the kids and stopped first at an awesome playground in Eagle Mountain. Check out that jungle gym! Morgan was brave enough to climb all the way to the top.
Alli and Lydia played on a double swing thingy.
I think Allison might still be a little too small for this...
Owen hung out at the safer parts of the playground.
Alli tried the interactive game.
William tested his balance.
We eventually convinced all the kids to try climbing the jungle gym.
David posed with the kids who were brave enough to meet him half way up.
Alli loved it and was not happy about being held back.
After the playground we went to the Provo city rec center to swim. They had a mini water park both indoors and outdoors and admission was super cheap. Lots of fun there, but no pictures.
That night we joined Uncle Darrell and Aunt LeeAnn and their family for a Pioneer Day celebration. We started with yummy food and ended with fireworks in the front yard.
For the grand finale my cousin Aaron brought out the big firework he bought. It was the kind that shoots rockets into the air, one after the other, and they explode with a pop. So he goes out to the road and lights it. The first couple rockets went as planned and flew into the sky. But then the launcher tipped over. The next rocket flew down the street to the right. The launcher rotated about 45 degrees after emitting that rocket, so the next one flew up at the house across the street. Yikes! Rotated 45 degrees again and now it shot down the left side of the street real close to neighbors who were also lighting fireworks. Oh my. Which means this last rocket was going to launch directly at US. And it did! Most specifically Owen! All of this happened rather quickly, of course, but I have a vivid recollection of seeing that firework fly straight at my children grouped together in the grass. I remember seeing it run right into Owen's chest and just kind of stop there as it was still being propelled, but it had hit an obstacle. All the thoughts of what could be the result ran through my brain. Would we have a maimed child? Could his clothes catch on fire? When it exploded would he lose a limb? All this happened while everyone screamed and scrambled for safety. I got up out of my chair and turned around and huddled around Allison, whom I was holding. David instructed the boys to "Run!" and they ran toward the house, William out distancing everyone. I noticed my cousin Heather use her body as a shield as she crouched in front of my cousin Laura who sat in a chair with both Lydia and Heather's young daughter Ava on her lap. I don't know if the firework that hit Owen was the last one or not, since everything became chaos, but if it wasn't, there weren't many afterward. Now it was time to assess the damage. David and I tracked Owen down. He was understandably pretty shaken up, but on first inspection seemed intact. We talked to him and asked him if he was hurt and where he was hit. There was a small red mark on one of his arms, but that was it! He was totally fine. Whew! We were able to cheer him up a bit with joking and talking about how he has an awesome story and bragging rights since he was hit with a firework. William, on the other hand, wouldn't be consoled. It was scary for him, too, but he wasn't hit, wasn't hurt, but he definitely had the hardest time with it. The rest of us went back to the road to watch a few more safe fireworks, like the flowers, but William remained at the house.That was a memorable night!
