4th of July Decor

It's July and you know what that means ..... lots of red, white and blue around our house. This year, I found the white and blue vases at White Barn and the wooden starts in the glass bowl at Target. Love them!

I switched out the pictures in order to display prints of past 4th of Julys. I love to see Reagan and Cole in their little red, white and blue outfits in years past.

I also love the White Barn luminaries that have stars on them - the candles come on at a certain time and you can see the light poking through the stars. Fabulous!

Of course we have to have the red, white and blue gumballs.

I also found some little wooden stands with stars above them. Those go well in the curio cabinets.

Most of all, I love the things Reagan made at Activity Days. She sewed fabric together to make a flag and she painted a wooden block and put scrapbook paper on it. LOVE IT!!!!

I know these are just decorations, but I love to celebrate America and the freedoms we enjoy and the country we love. We are so blessed to live in this great land and to enjoy the rights and freedoms and opportunities that we do. Although we are concerned about the direction some of our leaders want to take this country, we continue to participate and work and learn in order to try to preserve the things that our founding fathers treasured so much. God Bless America!!!!

Happy 65th Anniversary!!!!!

It's Steve's parents' 65th wedding anniversary!!!!! Yeah!!!!

We all (well, most of us) got together at Brett and Annie's home to celebrate. We ate, chatted, had a little slideshow of pics through the years and laughed together. The above picture is the siblings (missing two who have passed and two who couldn't make it that night).

Here's our whole crew from that night.

Happy Anniversary Jay and Nancy - whoa 65 years is a long time. We love you both so very much!!!!

Here's a copy of the pic we had blown up for their wall:

More Summer Fun

We've been having tons of summer fun. We keep playing and meeting up with our friends and just having fun!

We've always loved Airborne, but we found a new place called Get Air and we are loving it! Also, just like Airborne, they have Buy 1 Hour and Jump for 2 Hours Tuesday. So, pretty much every single Tuesday, you can find us at Airborne or Get Air.

We've jumped with our friends the Nichols, the Pescis, friends from school, friends from church and friends from karate.

We've also gone to a summer movie every week with our friends the Pescis. The movies are at Jordan Commons and are only $1. Love it!

We've hit the Draper pool with our friends the Davis family and hit the gym pool with our friends the Andersons.

One day, I took Reagan and Cole to Scheels. They have a huge ferris wheel inside the building. Reagan and Cole HAD to go....twice!!!! It's all good.

One day, Cole was so tired, he just put his sleeping bag and pillow down on the floor in the entry way and he stopped to take a nap.

Oh - and we've been trying to hit the gym every morning (except for our movie days). They close down the Kids' Club for an hour to have Kids' Fit. They basically play games that work them out. After Kids' Fit, they play games, play on the computers, watch videos or hang out and play board games with their friends in the Kids' Club. We love our gym!!!

Yep - this is shaping up to be a great summer. Long evenings in the yard, days playing with friends and lots of time together.... LOVE IT!

Campout in the Back Yard - Night 2

Well, Reagan and Cole had such a good time camping out in the yard last night that they convinced Steve to sleep out in the yard again tonight. 

They jumped on the trampoline until it was well past dark.

They searched for night crawlers.

They switched tents so each one could try out the other's tent and they bedded down for the night.

Another fun campout. I had to get them up nice and early to get ready for church. Thanks Steve for taking them on a fun, close by, campout!!!

Campout in the Back Yard

Cole has been begging Steve to go camping all summer and we just haven't had time. Yesterday, we drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon and drove through some campgrounds to scout out where we may want to camp. Each campsite was full and seemed to be on top of the one next to it. The bathrooms seemed to be far away and there were some interesting (maybe scary would be a better word) people walking all through the campgrounds.

So, we returned home and Steve had the idea to put up the tents and sleep in the yard. Reagan and Cole were IN! We set up a tent for each of them and one for Steve (this mama will be sleeping inside). They placed their tents at the top of the steep golf cart hill where they could look down over the lower yard and across to the mountains.

The view from the top of the yard down over the tents and the upper yard was fabulous!

The grabbed their sleeping bags that Grandma gave them, their pillows and blankets and a flashlight. Reagan also grabbed her American Girl Doll and the tent that she has for her. They headed outside for the night.

It didn't get dark quite as early as they thought, so they jumped on the trampoline, watched some more fireworks going off and talked and talked and talked. Eventually, they went to sleep. I headed inside and got into bed. I texted Steve "Love you - sleep well - protect our babies." He wrote back "With my life."  Love him!!!!!!

By the next morning, both kiddos were relaxing in Cole's tent and they reported having a great night and sleeping well. Even Steve said he slept well. Reagan and Cole didn't want to take the tents down as they wanted to play in them during the day. Ok - whatever you guys want.

Who needs a campground? We've got everything we need right here!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Independence Day fell on a Monday this year, but we had to dress in red, white and blue for church on Sunday, just to get in the mood :)

On the 4th, we played outside in our yard and jumped on the trampoline.

We took a drive up to Park City and Deer Valley.

We enjoyed being together.

We played Heads Up - our new favorite game.

We played with sparklers and we watched all the fireworks across the valley from our deck. 

What a great day. We are so thankful for our freedoms and we are grateful for those who fought to give us those. Happy Independence Day everyone!!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

It's my birthday!!!! Well, Sunday is my birthday, so we decided to celebrate on Saturday. We opted to hit my favorite restaurant for Saturday Brunch.

It was great. We haven't been to brunch here as it has previously only been on Sundays. Reagan and Cole loved their smoothies and their pancakes :) Best of all, they brought me a sparkler with chocolate spelling out "Happy Birthday".

After we ate, we walked around the grounds. They are so beautiful. Flowers, animals (the peacocks are my favorite), streams, gardens, the vineyard, the pond, and especially the view of the gorgeous mountains.

Reagan and Steve had a little dance under the pavilion :)

Even the drive up the cobblestone entrance is beautiful. Then, the cottages and the grounds just take my breath away. We had a wonderful brunch.

Later that day, we had a get-together at Steve's parents' home. Reagan and Cole were thrilled to see Uncle Mark. Because of his cancer and treatments and procedures, he has been super subject to infection and they haven't been able to see him for several months. He is getting stronger and stronger and our prayers continue to be answered as he rallies!!!

We played with cousins, ate, hung out and talked with family. It was a great night.

The next day was my actual birthday. We went to church and then came home and celebrated.

I had a great birthday that lasted for an entire weekend. Thanks Steve, Reagan and Cole for making it a great birthday for me!!!!

Airborne!!!!

We love this trampoline park called Airborne. We jump on all of the trampolines, we jump into the foam pits, we play dodge ball and then we jump some more. Well, there is a "big kid" area in the back part of the park. It has a Ninja Warrior Course. Unfortunately, you have to be a certain height to go on it. Reagan is close, but not quite there and Cole is several inches away from being tall enough.

One day when we were there, the employee checking the heights was less than attentive. So, Reagan just went by and went on the course. Cole was so jealous he was green. I told him to just walk up like he knew what he was doing and go on the course. He was nervous, but he did it and the guy didn't check anyone's height.

Reagan and Cole went on the course several times and they had a great time. Our friends Charlee and Brooklyn were much smaller and didn't even try to get on the course. They just watched and cheered Reagan and Cole on. Reagan and Cole loved it. We've been back to Airborne several times since then and each time, the employee has made sure everyone met the height requirement. Drat! Oh well, it was good while it lasted.

Kylie's Swim Party

Our friend Kylie had a birthday party and her mom (my adorable friend Kelsey) rented out the entire Murray Pool for her party. In year's past, she has rented out Airborne Trampoline Park, the Murray Ice Rink and Soccer City. Love it! They kiddos could swim in the big pool, swim in the little pool, hit the slides, jump off the diving board, eat pizza and cupcakes or just chill. Reagan and Cole had a great time!!!! Happy Birthday cute Kylie!!!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!!!

Sunday marked Father's Day and we had a great day. We celebrated Steve in the morning. Then, at church, the children sang during Sacrament Meeting (I always love that) and Reagan and Cole colored papers that were sleeves for candy bars for Steve.

After we came home and gave Steve our presents, we packed up and headed out to my parents' house. My sister and her family joined us and we had a great dinner and fun time celebrating my Dad.

We are so blessed to still have my Dad with us. He has battled cancer four times over the past fourteen years. It's crazy. So many times, we were afraid he wouldn't make it through the surgeries or the treatments (and complications) that followed.

I'm so glad that he is still here and that he has such a close relationship with Reagan and Cole. They love to be with him and talk with him and play.

Here's a picture of my Dad and me on my blessing day. Way back when :)