The 4th Of July

Our very favorite holiday. We love all of the traditions that this holiday brings, and especially the reason to celebrate the many freedoms we have and the many people who have sacrificed for us so that we can enjoy those freedoms. We kept up the annual tradition of running in the Freedom Run. We both signed up to do the 10K, but once I realized that I had to push the girls in their stroller I decided to do the 5K instead. I still was able to pull it off in 28 minutes! And Ryan did the 10K in just under 49 minutes. It was a good running day. There were over 6800 runners, but we were still able to have a great time.

Then we grabbed a bite to eat at the Creamery and met up with my parents for the parade in the bleacher seats. They have decided that this is the way to go so they don't have to go to extreme measures to get a good seat. It was a great parade. Even though it was scorching hot by the end of it, the girls loved all of the different entries. 

We went up to the Jackson's to swim and cool off after such a hot morning. Even though there were about 20 members of the Parkinson family up there, we had a good time and were grateful that Mimi and Grandpa were able to join us and cool off a bit. 

We went home from swimming and all fell asleep and slept for 3 hours! It was probably the best nap of my life. We woke up and Livy thought it was morning, she must have slept pretty deep! We were all BBQ'd out, so we went to Cafe Rio for dinner. What screams 'American' more than some good Mexican food!? Then we stopped to buy a few small fireworks and went home and had our own little show. Livy absolutely loved the smoke bombs. We put them face down in the sewer so that the smoke slowly came out through all of the holes. She loved it even though they were a little stinky. 

Her best "firework" face. 

Then we stayed up and watched a movie on the trampoline and ate candy. Probably the best day of Livy's life. They we stayed up until it got dark and all of the surrounding neighborhoods were doing a lot of fireworks. So we basically got our own private little firework show. It was awesome. Such a good day. 

Pre 4th of July Celebrations

We have gone to the Provo Parade almost every single year, and that is pretty much the only parade we have ever been to. But now that we're in Lehi, and have neighbors that have been in Lehi for several years, we are trying to learn the Lehi ways. The Poulsen's were saving spots so we decided to take advantage and try out the Lehi Parade. It was awesome. In a lot of ways it was way better than the Provo Grand Parade. We were able to drive up, park across the street, not have hoards of people surrounding us, got lots of candy, were able to see lots of Royalty "Princesses", lots of floats, cars, bands, dancers, and it wasn't nearly as long! I think this may be a new tradition. The girls both loved it. 

For FHE last week my parents invited us up the canyon for some KFC, s'mores and some mountain fresh air. We love being so close to such beautiful mountains and need to be better about taking advantage of it more often. My mom had a big outdoor feast that everyone loved. We were able to just hang out and relax and play around a little bit. We love being able to spend time with family any chance we can get, especially getting the little cousins together to play. We love Utah Summers. 

On July 1st I decided to plan a last minute neighborhood party. So I quickly put together a little flier, printed them out and handed them out that evening. It was a on July 3rd, super last minute, but had an awesome turn out. The weather was a great all day, but then the hour before it was supposed to begin it started to rain, lightning and heavy winds. I really didn't want to reschedule, so we decided to go ahead and go for it. By 6:15 it had cleared up, everyone showed up and we had such a great time. People stayed for almost two hours, just eating and chatting. It was great for me to at least go around and meet everyone. I may have started an annual tradition, but that's fine with me, it was such a great party. I need to try and plan more last minute things more often!

Zoo with Perdues

Brittany was in town again for a family reunion, so I was lucky enough to get to spend a couple of days with her and her cutie Callen. We met at the Hogle Zoo, and I was so excited to go because we hadn't been there since they completed the Safari exhibit. We loved the little train that went around it, and especially loved the four different lions they have there. We got there before the crowds came and it got to hot. We took a few rides on the carousel to complete our perfect morning at the zoo. We love the Perdue's. I sure wish they didn't live far away, and wish they had more reasons to visit Utah, but we're excited to go visit them in San Diego some time soon!

Life-Long Friends

We have been so blessed and feel right at home in our new neighborhood. We are surrounded by such wonderful people, we are so lucky to have made such good friends so quickly. Erin, in particular, has become such a great friend so quickly. We are a lot alike, in a way where we both love to go and do things. We love to eat good food, and we love to go out with our kids. We frequent Thanksgiving Point (the Farm, Museum, Cafe), go on many picnics in the park, and go out on lots of double dates on the weekends. We love the Poulsen's, with all of their older kids it makes Livy feel like she has older siblings and she loves it. We are so thankful for them in our lives. 

Boating Bums

All the family left town, except for Jen. The Jackson's had just gotten their boat, and so we were super anxious to take it out on the lake. We took it out the first time, but the battery was dead, so we spent most of our time just trying to get it started. But then we went out again and Jen was able to tag-a-long this time. It was a such a blast. Livy yelled, "This is the best day ever!" and "This is Wonderful!". Jen and I both wakeboarded a bit, and Ryan and Bob both skied. The water was a bit chilly, but we still had a great time. So grateful I was able to steal Jen and have her to myself for a few hours.