When I was little, my family used to go to Melba Idaho every year for a family reunion, 4th of July celebration. My mom grew up on a farm in the small town of Melba, on which her nephew, Josh now lives. Sad Story... my family hasn't gone to the Melba reunion for years now due to conflicts with sports and dance and school etc. which have made the trip difficult for our family to make. This year, George and I decided to break the streak and go to the farm to represent the Smith family. I mean, how can can I possibly pass up the Melba parade, duck racing down the canal, walking the plank, and "adult redneck wet t-shirt contests"... not to mention millions of tractors and dogs to keep my husband entertained for hours. So, we rented a car, and took a fun roadtrip to Idaho with Janeal and Andy, and Mindyn and Brian.
The best part about being in Melba on the 4th of July is that they always have one of the most AMAZING parades... I'm not talking about amazing floats and famous people (don't worry there were none of those) but we are talking SERIOUS CANDY!! Most parades you go to these days, you might get a handful of candy if you are lucky, and then a soaking wet spray from the fireman, but in Melba it's a little different. The parade is mostly tractors, sweet old cars, horses etc and everyone throws out bucketfulls of candy, so the kids line up with grocery bags, and believe me, there was more candy in some of those bags than I ever got on a good year trick-or-treating as a kid. It's crazy! It was so fun to go and see all the kids jumping up and down for joy with all the candy being thrown their way.... it took me back 20 years ago (man that makes me sound old) when that was me. After the parade, all the cousins my age would meet in the barn for a candy trade off. GOOD TIMES!!
This is my cousin Heidi and her little family at the parade. They have this whole thing down to an art now. They have realized that if you stand on the other side of the road as everyone else and yell out compliments to people's tractors and cars, you will end up with the most candy. However, it wasn't even two hours after the parade that I heard her yelling at some of the kids "STOP EATTING CANDY!" There is nothing better than a bunch of hyper kids!
ADULT REDNECK WET T-SHIRT CONTEST
I know you have been as eager as I was to find out what this is. My aunt got a bunch of t-shirts, soaked them in water, rolled them up and froze them. Each couple was given a shirt and the first one to open the shirt and put it on won $50. What she didn't think about was that the synthetic shirts opened right up, but the cotton shirts (that soak up more water) were a little more difficult. Even with George and my cousin, Kent, tugging on it with all their might, we were still the loosers.
George finally got the shirt on, and informed everyone that as the "boonie" prize he was going to keep the shirt. You have to admit that he looks good in my Uncle's shirt.
My BIGGEST FISH
After having fun on the farm all day, Mindyn and Brian picked us up and took us to her house in Wieser, ID (another really small town) so that her dad could take us fishing. As much as I don't like fishing, and as frustrated as I was when I pulled up weeds everytime I pulled my line in, I have to admit that I was pretty excited and proud of myself for catching this fish. It's my biggest yet. But it still doesn't compare to the boatload of fish Mindyn's Dad, Mindyn, George, and Brian caught. (see string below)
The best part about being in Melba on the 4th of July is that they always have one of the most AMAZING parades... I'm not talking about amazing floats and famous people (don't worry there were none of those) but we are talking SERIOUS CANDY!! Most parades you go to these days, you might get a handful of candy if you are lucky, and then a soaking wet spray from the fireman, but in Melba it's a little different. The parade is mostly tractors, sweet old cars, horses etc and everyone throws out bucketfulls of candy, so the kids line up with grocery bags, and believe me, there was more candy in some of those bags than I ever got on a good year trick-or-treating as a kid. It's crazy! It was so fun to go and see all the kids jumping up and down for joy with all the candy being thrown their way.... it took me back 20 years ago (man that makes me sound old) when that was me. After the parade, all the cousins my age would meet in the barn for a candy trade off. GOOD TIMES!!
This is my cousin Heidi and her little family at the parade. They have this whole thing down to an art now. They have realized that if you stand on the other side of the road as everyone else and yell out compliments to people's tractors and cars, you will end up with the most candy. However, it wasn't even two hours after the parade that I heard her yelling at some of the kids "STOP EATTING CANDY!" There is nothing better than a bunch of hyper kids!
ADULT REDNECK WET T-SHIRT CONTEST
I know you have been as eager as I was to find out what this is. My aunt got a bunch of t-shirts, soaked them in water, rolled them up and froze them. Each couple was given a shirt and the first one to open the shirt and put it on won $50. What she didn't think about was that the synthetic shirts opened right up, but the cotton shirts (that soak up more water) were a little more difficult. Even with George and my cousin, Kent, tugging on it with all their might, we were still the loosers.
George finally got the shirt on, and informed everyone that as the "boonie" prize he was going to keep the shirt. You have to admit that he looks good in my Uncle's shirt.
My BIGGEST FISH
After having fun on the farm all day, Mindyn and Brian picked us up and took us to her house in Wieser, ID (another really small town) so that her dad could take us fishing. As much as I don't like fishing, and as frustrated as I was when I pulled up weeds everytime I pulled my line in, I have to admit that I was pretty excited and proud of myself for catching this fish. It's my biggest yet. But it still doesn't compare to the boatload of fish Mindyn's Dad, Mindyn, George, and Brian caught. (see string below)
Fish Fillet:
Since I didn't catch a fish big enough to bring home, they told me I had to fillet a fish. Mindyn's dad taught us how to cut it just right, and then George and I had a competition to see who could fillet better.
George trying to fillet:
My fillet is the beautiful piece on top! That's right... I may not be able to fish as well as George, but at least I can Fillet better. HAH!
FISH GUTS:
FISH GUTS:
JANEAL CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING: (She's pretty dang good!)
MINDYN SHOWING US HER MASTER SKILLS
ME SHOOTING: Not so pretty, and not so good. I think I need to work on my form.
George, Brian, and Andy having a blast with the guns:
Mindyn's house was really fun, and really out in the middle of no where. They live up on the hills of Weiser, and their house overlooks the whole city. We had fun fishing, shooting, 4-wheeling, and sleeping out on the tramp. And on the night of the 4th of July, we headed down to the town to watch the city fireworks, and much to our surprise, there aren't very many illegal fireworks in little cities like that, so we sat on the grass and watched as fireworks shot up all around us bursting just above our heads. It was seriously awesome!!
This picture doesn't really have that much to do with the 4th of July, but it was from our firework party at Taylorsville days. We went with Ken and Joslin and Mindyn and Brian to watch the show, and even though we had to sit through horrible traffic to get out of there, and share the Taylorsville park with hundres of people, it was all worth it because they really do put on an impressive firework show!! Highly reccommended for anyone who likes fireworks.
4 comments:
Fun small town parade! It reminds me of Duchesne's 4th of July. We would get tons of candy too. I'm impressed by your fish. I've never caught one even with a few sweet fishing holes behind my back yard growing up. My brother always did but not me.
Looked like fun, BUT if I had to fillet the fish, I think I would have been ill. Actually, I KNOW I would have been ill. Good for you for doing it.
Geesh girl. You don't STOP travelling! I feel like the reason we don't see each other now is because you are never in Utah! :-) But, I am seriously impressed by your 4th celebrations. First of all, the wet t-shirt contest is HILARIOUS! I love that idea. If I were to have a family reunion where we played fun games (because we usually just sit and chat :-), I would totally do that game!
AND....the fish you caught? Amazing. Even more amazing? You touched it! The first and last fish I caught was with Brandon, and I didn't even want to take the fish off of the hook. SICK! Nice job, my friend. Nice job.
That sounds like so much fun!! We went to Yuma for the 4th, but it wasn't quite the same celebration. I miss hanging out with you guys... maybe one day we'll be back!
Post a Comment