Independence Day

We had such a fun 4th of July!  Matt had a few days off of work, so we were able to fit in a lot of activities and family time, which was perfect!  On the 3rd, we went to the Riverton Parade.  We had a fun time watching the parade... and I especially loved watching the kids.  They loved collecting candy, and I loved seeing Cooper put his hand over his heart as the flag passed by, and watching Sydney wave to all the "princesses."  Cooper was a crack up sitting in his little chair with his sunglasses on, yelling "Yankees!" to anyone who passed by... he wanted to make sure they saw his Yankees hat.

After the parade, we headed over to the carnival.  The carousel is always a hit...

But, as we moved on to other rides, Cooper became a little apprehensive...

Then he became terrified...

And by the end of this ride, he was all smiles and said "it was so fun!"



The next "ride" was an obstacle course, that Cooper opted out of...

And then on to the roller coaster.  We asked Cooper several times if he was sure he wanted to go on it, and he was... but as it started going, he started screaming...

Luckily he had his big sister to put her arm around him...

For the next ride, we decided on something a little less scary... a car that went in a circle (like a merry-go-round).  Cooper absolutely refused to go on it, but I talked the worker into letting me sit by him, so he did ok, and we even got a smile out of him.

We ended our rides with a train ride, and at the end of it all, Cooper told us how much fun he had and how much he loved it.  I asked him if he wanted to go on the roller coaster again, and he said "Yes... on Saturday."

After the carnival, we got some frozen custard (YUM!) and watched the movie in the park... Happy Feet 2.  Not a movie I'd recommend, but still a fun time.

On the 4th, we went over to my grandparents' house.  They had a bunch of bouncy houses and games set up in their backyard, and of course a ton of cousins to play with.  We had a pancake breakfast there, and a BBQ for lunch.  It was so fun, and we all loved it!

Sydney taking a turn in the dunk tank...

My grandpa is such a good sport and said he'd do the dunk tank, until we all talked him out of it...

Cooper couldn't really slide on the slip-n-slide, so his nice uncles dragged him down it...

Dunford Doughnuts! (my kids ate SO MANY of these!)

and "Waterlemon!"

After all of the festivities at my grandparents' house, we went home and had some naps, and then headed to the Bees game.  We rode Trax down, and walked to the ballpark.  When we got inside we even splurged and let the kids get some balloons- Sydney's was a flower and Cooper's a sword.  The game was fun... I don't think there is anything better than baseball on the 4th, and the fireworks were amazing!  The only downfall of the day was when we lost Sydney.  Matt went up to concessions to get a drink, and she followed him.  I thought he knew, but he didn't.  When he came back 15 minutes later, he asked where she was, and then we were all off looking for her.  I don't think there is anything more terrifying than losing your child in a huge crowd like that.  Matt was talking with the police when my mom found her wandering around clear at the other end of the stadium.  I literally shed tears of relief when I heard they found her!  But we did end the game on a high note... Matt catching a ball, which he gave to Cooper.  Overall a great night.

It was such a fun weekend, and lived up to all of my 4th of July expectations- which actually are high considering it is my favorite holiday!  I am just so grateful for my family, for the gospel, and for this great country that we live in, and I love that Independence Day helps me celebrate all of those things.

Instagram June

1. Cooper REALLY wanted to wear a tie to church today, so we put one of Matt's on him...
2. Getting ready...
3. He kept in on the whole time, but it came untucked... so happy to be wearing a tie like his Dad!
4. Enjoying our "backyard" and trying out the new pool toys
5. "Playing" Playstation with Brett... I told him it was time to go and he said, "In two minutes, I'm almost winning!"
6. If Sydney had one wish in the whole world it would be for a "Rainbow Dress" Wish Come True
7. And rainbow hair to match...
8. Cooper wanted in on the picture taking fun... love this one!
9. Lunch at Rumbi with Grandma... Sydney's pic
10. Swimming with Daddy this morning
11. Her favorite trick!
12. Cowabunga Bay season passes, multiple trips a week to the neighborhood pool, and our newest addition to a summer full of swimming- a blow up pool in the front yard!  We are kind of obsessed... 2nd swim of the day
13. A butterfly on Sydney's finger!
14. I love it that he sleeps with his feet tucked underneath him and his bum up... still feels like my baby
15. Drying off after a day at the pool...
16. Love this quote... helping me through life lately.

June

Holy Cow!  I'm actually quite upset that June flew by and we are already a week into July.  Why does summer have to go by so quickly?  I feel like I have so much to do.  We have a long list of things we've planned on accomplishing this summer, and we aren't very far into it... 

• refinishing the kitchen table- half way done, I think the chairs are going to be the death of me!
• finishing the basement- haven't started yet... wish I had money to hire it all out
• build basement storage shelves and organize the garage- haven't started yet
• plan preschool year, organize all preschool stuff, get some sort of grasp on the fact that I am solely in charge of the preschool next year, reality check- haven't started yet
• somehow stay on top of laundry, cleaning, and daily tasks- work in progress- so hard in the summer!
• enjoy time together as a family, especially since Matt's not in school this summer- check!  But obviously this is always a goal and a work in progress :)

Hopefully, we can fit it all in with the less than two months we have left!  Maybe I tend to take on too much?

Anyway, June was packed full of fun, family time, leisure, swimming, Bunga Bay, bbq's- you name it. Which is probably why it went by so quickly.  I tend to only take pictures from my phone now a days, which is very convenient, and captures more of our every day moments- so please excuse the quality of pretty much all of the pictures- and I am still loving Instagram for that purpose.  As far as non-Instagram pictures go, here is our June:

We enjoyed a nice Father's Day.  The kids and I had so much fun shopping for Matt.  We actually had a budget that we could get him something with this year, so we enjoyed picking out a nice golf shirt for him, a lunch box, some treats, and a book for him to read with the kids.  Sydney and Cooper were so excited to give him all his presents, and were so good at keeping them a secret.  Unfortunately, we opened all presents before our 9:00 church, as well as a breakfast of orange rolls, so we didn't get any pictures because there was so much going on.  After church, we went to my parents' house to open presents with my dad.  My mom bought my dad a really nice putter, and some golf balls.  We all wrote down something we admire about him, and why we love him, on a flag that we attached to the putter.   We also each had our name written on a golf ball.  To present our gift to him, we had my dad pick a ball out, read the name on it, and then that person would tell him what they wrote on their flag.  It was really fun.  After we finished up with my dad's presents, we headed over to Nana's house for 3rd Sunday dinner.  It was a full day, which are the best kind.  I love spending time with all of our family, and it was so nice to celebrate having such amazing men in our lives.  

I personally am so grateful for a wonderful father.  My dad is a great man.  I am so grateful to him for teaching me the gospel, and for being such a great example to me.  I will always treasure the times that he has gathered our family together and taught us the gospel.  The foundation he has given me is one of the greatest gifts I've been given in my life.

I am also so incredibly grateful for an amazing husband.  I love Matt more than words can say.  He is always there for me, and so patient with me.  I am so blessed to have him in my life, to have his support and love.  I love watching him be a dad, and think he is the greatest.  Thank you Matt for all that you do for me.  I know that there are many things in this life that you have helped me get through.  You make me a better person. I love you.

This month, I also got my lifetime membership from Weight Watchers.  I've been going to my mom's meeting on Thursday nights, and lost 25 lbs.  It's amazing how much better I feel.  When I think back on last year, I was struggling so much with my R.A. and weight, and was having such a hard time.  It's so nice to be feeling better and have better health.

We also enjoyed going miniature golfing one night.  Cooper absolutely loved it!  He was so cute with his tiny little putter.  It was fun to get outside and enjoy doing something different.  Matt is such a cute dad, helping them putt...

Cooper was so funny... he would hit the ball, and it would go just a little and roll back to him... every time he would happily say, "oh I lose!" put the ball back and try again.  I loved watching him enjoy every minute.

Cooper has also really liked playing baseball.  He has gotten really good at hitting the ball off his tee, and most of the time he can hit the ball cleanly, without even touching the tee.   We've enjoyed playing in my parents' back yard a lot.  The kids' favorites are baseball and golf.

So happy to see how far he hit the ball!

One of the best things about this month, was spending more time with these girls:

I seriously love my old college roomies- I really wish it were easier for us all to get together, sadly this isn't even the whole group!  This month we got together a few times, trying to get all of our "Kelli time" in!  Kelli just moved to AZ, which is good news, but so sad for us Utahns.  We had a delicious "Cafe Rio Salad" dinner at Kelli's place, a play date at Dayna's, and we went to the zoo.  I'm looking forward to meeting up in St. George this month for a little girls weekend as well!

On the way home from the zoo, Cooper fell asleep... Sydney reached over and held his hand
Moments like this are so satisfying to a mother's heart :)