4th of July

This year for the 4th of July we went to Jim's sister Melanie's house for a b-b-q and fireworks. Dave (Mel's husband) is quite the pyro and is very meticulous when it comes to fireworks. It takes an hour or more for him to get them set up exactly how he wants them and then he doesn't just light them randomly, he has a plan. It's always very entertaining. The kids loved the 'poppies,' as they are called at our house and the little guns that shot off streamers. Ally didn't want to touch a sparkler and Andrew was a little nervous with it, even burned a few holes in our blanket. The fireworks show did not disappoint, we even had 3D glasses to enjoy the fireworks with. I love the 4th of July! A great excuse to get together with family for food, fun and fireworks. I also love that it represents our country's independence and all the freedoms we get to today enjoy.

Photographer Andrew

One day while driving out to Provo to go to the pool Andrew found our camera on the seat next to him so he decided to become a photographer. Ally LOVES having her picture taken so she ate it up, she even put her goggles on to mix it up a little. Here are some of his 'masterpieces'....

Water Fun

One day while at Grandma Davis' house the kids were hot and wanted to swim. My mom pulled out their little pool and slip-n-slide for them to use. It was so fun to watch them playing with each other and making their own fun. I was really shocked at Ally. Last year she wouldn't get near the slip-n-slide while the water was on spraying it and she definitely wouldn't slide on it. She would just walk or sit at the end. This year was extremely different. She was running and sliding on her knees and even went on her stomach a few times.




The kids had a lot of fun! My mom and I enjoyed watching them play. One of the many things I love about summer.

Playing Catch Up

I have to admit that I have been a major blog slacker!! I don't know what it is but lately every time I start to think about updating our blog, I just can't get the motivation (or whatever it is) to get it done. I've been great at reading everybody's blogs but I've struggled with updating ours. Sunday I got to go to Relief Society and the lesson was on journaling and how important it is for us to do. Since for right now our blog is my way of journaling, I figured I'd better get in gear and get things up-to-date. I'm not all the way there but I am getting closer. But, since I have a house to clean and kids to take care of, I will have to stop for now. Now that I have my motivation back, I will hopefully have us all up-to-date in the next couple of days. Stay tuned!

Provo Canyon 10 Mile Race

A lady Jim works with talked him into running the Provo Canyon ten mile race this year. He in turn talked his sister and nephew into running the race too. Andrew wanted to know if we would watch the race on TV. I think he was a little disappointed when we told him it wouldn't be on TV. The kids and I decided we would go wait at the finish line to support and cheer for Jim, Mel, and Jay. We thought the race started at 7 so the kids and I loaded up in the car so we could be there by 8:15 since I didn't know how quickly he would run it. We got there and found out the race hadn't started until 7:50 so we had time to kill. What do you do with two kids, nothing open and plenty of time, take pictures of course.




Jim did amazing!!! He finished in 1 hour 33 minutes. I was so proud of him!!



I have to apologize for the picture. I decided that I am not very good at trying to cheer and take pictures at the same time. I promise to do better at his next race. They all had a great time! I even committed to running it with them next year. Something to look forward to ;).

Swim Lessons

Andrew did amazingly well in swim lessons this year and he enjoyed every part of it, even the slide and diving board. We signed him up for three weeks and by the end of the third week he was swimming back and forth across the pool by himself. He would go down the slide over and over and every time he would swim to the side by himself. It was so fun to watch him do so well this year and to see how much he enjoyed it.

Andrew's 7th Birthday

Poor Andrew has been riding the same (small) bike he's had since he turned four so Jim and I decided this year for his birthday we'd get him a new bike. He was so excited and couldn't wait to get out riding it. He started in our backyard but we quickly decided it was too small for his new bike (he kept running into the fence and house) so he headed over to park to ride. It took a while to get him off his bike and back in the house.



All he wanted to do for his birthday was go to Discovery Park in PG. My kids love that park. Even though it was a little warm that day, the kids all had a great time. The favorite was the tire swing. Only one boy got sick from all the spinning. Sorry Bryndon!!



Andrew had a baseball game that night and then we had cake and ice cream with family. It was a great day filled with lots of fun, yummy food, and lots and lots of presents including money, which he of course thought was the best!!!