Life Goes On

Provo Balloon Festival! This is our 15th year in a row attending the festivities....up at 5:30, McDonalds by 6:00 then to the field to watch the balloons fill up and float away.
The baby with her best friend...
Tony the Tiger Balloon! Coolest thing ever...
Tyler, Kenzie and Ryan who is refusing to pose for the picture.
I didn't get a pic of Jillian...who every year is traumatized by Smokey Bear. There is a fantastic Smokey Bear balloon, and Smokey himself is on hand to pass out "Don't start forest fire" frisbees and other swag. Jill is terrified of anything in a fuzzy suit. Even Santa Claus. That's a post for another day...
So of course we torture her every year by pretending to call Smokey over. This year was no exception. We'd forgotten about him after a while though, when to my surprise there he was ambling over to our blanket. Jill immediately hid under her quilt...only to have him REACH DOWN AND TRY TO TAKE HER BLANKET FROM HER. I thought she was going to pee her pants. It was one of those rare mother moments when two warring instincts took over: the first to TAKE HIM DOWN AND PROTECT MY CHILD and the next to laugh until I cried.
Another fun year at the balloon fest.
Oh, and Jill has updated her blog with a lovely tribute to my dad among other traumatic events from the past few weeks. Feel free to check it out.