Pineview

 Summer is slipping by too quickly, so we decided to take advantage of the warm weather and spend a Saturday up at Pineview with the Garrs.  We love going up there at lease once each summer because, A) it's free, B) our kids think it's the ocean, and C) we can take our dog.  


Here's Jack digging a hole in the sand that would fill with water when the waves came in.  See, it's practically Florida :)



Ella wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty!  I found several prickly burr type things stuck to her swim diaper when I finally changed her.  That couldn't have been too comfortable.



Jack after he "rode a wave in".  My Florida comment might have been sarcastic, but I'm not kidding here,  he really was body surfing.



Steve and Ella.  I'm kind of surprised Steve could even smile with the amount of boat jealousy he was experiencing.  It's still in our 10 year plan :)



Nobody, and I mean nobody, enjoys the lake more than Tucker.  His calling in life is retrieving sticks from the water.  Dog heaven!



These two little buddies had a blast and played so great together!  We're so lucky to have the Garrs as friends and neighbors!

Welcome Home From Albuquerque

Steve's parents recently returned from serving an 18 month mission to Albuquerque, New Mexico (or as we call it in our home with young children, "apple cookie".)  We are so excited to have them home, and have missed them so much.  We were able to skpe with them quite often on their mission which really helped the kids keep in touch with them.  That was especially important to us since this is how Ella looked when they left.

Yes, she was a whopping two weeks old!  We went down to St George for the weekend for their homecoming.  They both did a great job speaking in church, and it was so nice to spend a few days with them catching up.  I feel bad I didn't get any pictures of them with the kids, or after their homecoming, but I only broke my camera out when we were swimming.


After a yummy dinner at the pizza factory.  Jack stood in a long line all by himself to buy those suckers.




Swimming at Steve's parents community pool.



She's a looker, haha!  She loved these goggles. 



Swimming a couple of days later at Green Valley.  Ella needed a nap badly and finally dozed off.



Jack was fearless on the diving board!  That, and he really trusts his Dad!



Ella loves to do anything she sees Jack do, so of course she had to jump off too.  She loved it and wanted to do it again, and again.



Happy 4th

We love the 4th of July at our house!  It's Steve's favorite holiday, so I always feel a little pressure to have an extra fun day.  This year since it fell on a Thursday, I even requested the night off of work.  We started off the day with the Centerville parade.  We love this parade!  It's the perfect length, and they throw candy.  That can't be said about all parades these days.


Ella and Dad scoping out the candy prospects



She loved collecting the candy, but had it not been for her super nice cousins, she might not have gotten any.  She wasn't the quickest :)  Immediately eating each piece you collect really slows things down!



Jack was not his usual self at the parade.  He just sat on my lap and complained about how hot he was.  We kept spraying him with water and doing anything we could to cool him down, but it wasn't working.  About half way through the parade, he felt like he was burning up and I knew he must have a fever.  Jack and I left the parade to get him a drink and some motrin.  A holiday is never really complete without a trip to Instacare!  Later, we went up to my parent's house and he just laid on me until dinner time.  That is the ONLY perk of a sick kid.  He was so sweet and snuggly.

By evening he was feeling much better so we decided to brave the fireworks with my siblings' families.  We always love the Brigham City fireworks.  You can really get up close to the action.  At one point this year, a spark fell literally close enough to Dusty that he had to lift his leg up.  Unlike some of our fellow firework watchers, we didn't stand up halfway through and move our blanket further away.  Yes, we were the brave ones :)


Falling ash and sparks will definitely teach you to keep your eyes on the sky. 

Walk About

In June, our neighborhood had a walk about for a ward activity.  This is a ward activity that can be held only in certain parts of Utah.  Our ward boundaries are contained in our neighborhood, so it's easy to walk to any and all of the houses in our ward.  The idea is that at a said time everyone leaves their house and starts walking around the neighborhood until they get to a house marked with balloons where they can stop for a snack and visit.  Our home was a stop, and since it was 100+ degrees outside, I opted to make homemade root beer for our snack.  Close to 200 cups later the 5 gallons was gone, so it's safe to say it was a success.