Happy Birthday to our Nation!

In the last few minutes of July 4, 1776 representatives from twelve colonies at the Continental Congress voted to adopt Thomas Jefferson's call to arms, the Declaration of Independence. Most historians believe the date was arbitrarily chosen from a number of possible groundbreaking events, but however the 4th of July celebrations began, we're happy to continue them.

It was a long, wonderful day. We started the morning off with the Freedom Festival's annual parade. After the parade we visited the Crandall Historical Printing Museum where the we got to watch a vintage Ramage Press in action as the printer created replicas of the original Declaration of Independence on the press they were first printed on. We visited Colonial Days, had neighbors over for a backyard barbecue, and watched fireworks till the last sparks died out. It was especially beautiful to see the flags up in nearly every front yard. Happy Birthday to the United States of America!

Here are some pictures of the long, hot, wonderful parade. We'll start off with a pipe band, one of four that marched in the parade. I didn't know there were that many kilts in the valley, let alone people who could actually play bagpipes! (Click on the pictures to see a larger version.)

Along with the fancy cars and floats, there were several teams of horses and some groups of individual riders. This perfectly matched team was my favorite.

Another set of horses brought along the old hearse from Berg mortuary, providing final resting places for Utahans for over a hundred years.

Then came this float, built by the members of the Provo Central Stake. It won the Most Outstanding Float by a Non-Profit Group award. I was pretty proud, because we spent long hours doing towel mache, working on eagle's wings, and sticking tiny trees all over the mountain. We had lots of fun working on it, and in the end, it looked great despite our being part (a very small part) of the project.

The theme for the float was "Uniting Families and Cultures under the Wings of Freedom." Walking behind it holding American flags were people from the neighborhood in the native costumes of their countries. It was a beautiful display.

Another pipe band kept the crowd entertained with their outfits and good patriotic music. Have you ever heard Stars and Stripes Forever on the bagpipes? For some reason, bagpipes and patriotic music go very well together.

We had an unexpected appearance by one of the Round Table. This was particularly exciting for me, since last week I finished The Once and Future King once again.

The lavender fairies and some of the workers at the Young Living Family Farm came through to tell people about the festivities down in Mona this weekend. You'll hear (and see) more about that soon.

The very last paraders were a group from the BYU ROTC that shot off a cannon (and set hundreds of babies crying) every 50 yards or so. Right before them, however, was one more pipe band. Who knew?