Living in Salt Lake City, we are lucky. Not only do we get to celebrate the 4th of July, but the 24th of July, too. Pioneer day! And, let me just say, that pioneer celebrations are huge in Utah. We like fireworks. Lots of them. I wonder what the pioneers think of our celebrations?
My little family had a great day. We started out with our ward breakfast. This is a tradition in our ward. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, you name it. Then, at the end, there is a “parade” by all the kids in the ward. The kids bring their bikes, scooters, whatever, and decorate them. Then, they march around the neighborhood parading their bikes. It is a lot of fun and my kids really love it.
Then, the big parade downtown takes place. If you like parades, you would love the Pioneer Day Parade. It is huge. The floats are amazing, and there is always a big turn out. This year, we decided to skip the parade, and just see the aftermath. The floats. The place where they stop is really close to our house, so we were able to walk over and get up close with some of the floats. My kids liked that just as much. Plus, we were able to talk with some of the people that rode on the floats. My daughter liked seeing the “princesses”, which were really the pageant winners from various cities.
Last, we ended the night with some fun neighborhood fireworks. Our neighbors go all out on pioneer day, and buy some crazy fireworks. My kids love sitting in our driveway and watching them all and doing some fireworks with their Daddy. We end the night by watching the “big fireworks” at a park really close to us. It is a great day.
But, I really appreciate reflecting on the pioneers each year. I didn’t do that when I lived outside of Utah. Sure, there may have been a talk in church once in a while and a few songs sung in primary, but you do not get to really reflect on the pioneers as easily as you do living in UT. After all, they came here to settle and it is because of them that we have this beautiful place to live in now.
Photo Courtesy of Morguefile.com