happy 4th

david and i had our four year anniversary on june 19th, but the 4th of july weekend was our first free weekend to do something fun to celebrate it.  we had a gift certificate to the blue boar inn in midway burning a hole in our pockets, so we spent it in style.  friday night we had a very fancy dinner at the inn, went to the midway memorial hill to watch the fireworks, and then back to the inn for cream puffs and a fancy room for the night.  the next morning we got up early for a hot air balloon ride over heber valley.  our digital camera's batteries died in the middle of the fireworks, so we had to use a disposable camera for our balloon ride.  i picked up a "highly versatile" camera, thinking  it would cover all lighting, indoor/outdoor, etc....david later told me "versatile" is the marketing way of saying "not specialized in anything"...in other words, the photos are grainy, and obviously not digital.  ha! oh well!

stretching out the balloon to get it ready to inflate.  we had a total of 10 people riding in the basket!  the pilot brought his wife and two kids, a couple that were friends of the pilot, another couple going for the ride, and us.  

inflating the balloon with a fan to get it open enough to add the gas.





up in the air!  david and i are both kind of iffy when it comes to heights, but the ride was so smooth, and the pilot so competent we felt safe.  pilot's tip: look out, not down.



while we were floating over the valley the pilot told us the history of ballooning.  it started in the mid-18th century with a duck, a sheep, and a rooster.  scientists at that time weren't sure if there was oxygen 50 feet straight up, so they decided to test the first official balloon flight with these three unfortunate guinea pigs.  fortunately, they survived, and the ballooning continued.  here we are at around 1,000 feet! (and still breathing)




here we are coming in for the landing.  you can see our shadow over the buildings.  it was interesting--we would float one way at one altitude, and another way at another altitude.  the pilot definitely knew what he was doing, and we landed exactly where he had planned.



getting the balloon dropped down to he ground, and getting the air out of it.  it's called "milking" the balloon.

this was definitely a great way to spend an anniversary!  we are very excited for our plans over the next year and feel very blessed to be working together to move forward.  we love our life together!