Happy Independence Day

Today was a good day. One of the best parts about living in Provo is that the Fourth of July is pretty much the biggest holiday in the city. The main street's looked like a shantytown since yesterday afternoon because people have been staking out their places to watch the parade. But not us. We woke up early and went to the Balloon Festival.

We got there as all the balloons were launching, so that was cool and saw our friends Sam and Marilyn, which was also very cool. Then we walked to the library, where the family had tickets to watch the parade, and they had a great time there.

While everyone was doing that, I went home and played some video games because I'm not a fan of parades. While I was doing that, my good friend Cory Johnson called to see if he could bring his family over because they were in town. So I got to hang out with Cory while everyone else was at the parade. In case you're missing how fantastic that was for me, Cory was my very best friend from about when we were 10 until we left on our missions. I hadn't met their kids before because it's been that long since we've all been together, so that was all kinds of fun.

I also got a nap after the family barbecue, instead of playing golf. I know, it breaks with family tradition. I've been taking notice of my natural rhythms recently and learned that because I wake up so early every day, my body needs a little nap at 2 in the afternoon. Today, I got to indulge that, got a really fantastic 20 minute nap and I feel pretty great. In a few hours, we'll climb up on top of the roof to watch the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire, which is probably the largest fireworks display in the state. If you're looking for something to do on the Fourth of July, I know it's not usually the kind of place you think of, but Provo does a pretty good job of celebrating it and we'd love to have you drop by too.

Oh yeah, and CERN announced that they've found a particle consistent with what they expected for the Higgs boson. No biggie.