July highlights

 

I took Addy and Hayden to Boondocks on July 2nd. We met up with my friend Liz and her kids. The kids had fun trying everything out while Liz and I talked. I think they said that laser tag was their favorite. 

On Sunday July 7th I got to hang out with my HS friends. The husbands came too but we didn't take a picture. It was nice of Robyn to host us at her house. We only get to see Marilee and Liz about once a year since they live out of state. I love hanging out with these lifelong friends!

On July 12th we went to Tucker's endowment session at the Payson Temple. We loved being there with him! I can't believe that Parker and Tucker are all grown up now. Tucker will be serving a mission in Lima Peru. We went to his farewell on July 14th. He gave a really good talk on adversity. He shared his experience of grieving the loss of his mom. It had all of us in tears. We are so proud of him! We are excited to hear about his adventures in the mission field. 

Parker got to fly an airplane for the first time on July 18th! His friend Cambrie was his flight instructor. I loved that he wore his great grandpas flight jacket. He is on his way to becoming a pilot!

On July 21st we celebrated Logan's 6th birthday and Ken's birthday. We had a nice BBQ dinner at Heather and Dan's. Heather made Logan a space shuttle cake and her dad a piano cake. We had fun being there to celebrate with them!

Our July 24th was low key. Kev and some of the kids had to work. We did some fireworks that night at home. Addy and Hayden enjoyed these cool sparklers. 

On July 27 we went to Sarah and James wedding open house. Sarah is my cousin Melissa's daughter. She is close in age to Kenna. The open house was at Dad and Loni's club house. I enjoyed catching up with many of my cousins that night. Sarah and James will be sealed in the Nauvoo temple on August 10th. 

On July 30th Hayden and I went to lunch at Mobettahs. It was nice having some time just with him while the girls were at YW camp. 

Addy and Halle went to YW camp up in Heber July 29th-August 1st.  I'm happy that they had this experience together. It was a little sad knowing that this was Halle's last year at camp. I loved how their leaders challenged them to read the Book of Mormon before camp. I was impressed to see Addy reading and highlighting her scriptures daily. I loved hearing about their camp stories when they got home.

Halle was a YCL this year. She got several bullseyes at archery and earned the nickname Katnis Everdeen. All those years of archery at Reid Ranch paid off!

Hayden's birthday

 

Hayden turned 15 years old on July 17th! We went to pick out his birthday balloons. He thought it would be funny to get a pink unicorn one. 

We went to get his birthday waffle. It was nice to have some time to just hang out and talk with him.

Halle brought him home a drink from Quench It. Hayden is almost as tall as Halle now!

Kenna and Bryson gave him his gift the day before when we were passing through Logan. He got a light up Mario one up and mushroom. They even make sounds when you push them. He really loved their gift!

We had a party on the night of his birthday. He opened up presents from everyone. We got him a 1,000 piece puzzle of the Bahamas that we had recently gone to on our cruise.  

Hayden had finished my Dad's Captain America Lego shield. It took a lot of time and effort. 

I made him funfetti cupcakes for his dessert. 

He enjoyed working on his Lego Bugatti set. Aunt Amy is always nice to help him. 

There was even a rainbow outside of our house that night. It felt like it was just for him. 

We did some fireworks after his party. We are grateful that Hayden is a part of our family! He has a great sense of humor and I love to hear him laugh. He is creative and thinks like an engineer. He loves animals. Especially, our dog Ollie. He is always up for an adventure. We love you Hayden!!

Bear Lake

 

We went to Bear Lake July 14-16th! We invited the Bakers, Frosts, Castagnos, Wouldens, Hydes, and Houpts to come with us. We stayed at the Paris Springs Campground again. 

I love that Parker, Rykyer, and Dylan have been friends since they were little. \

Everyone had fun roasting smores that night. 

Tessa taught me a new way of making a smore. You use Ritz crackers instead of graham crackers which adds some saltiness. You also use a Reeses thin instead of Hersheys. I love hanging out with Tessa!

It was beautiful that night around the campfire. I love all of the pine trees in this campground. 

The next day we spent at North Beach. Ben got right to work and created this sand turtle. 

I love this picture of Paige hugging Addy. You can see the complete joy on her face. 

I can't believe how grown up Halle and Maddi are. They are going to be seniors in high school this year. 

Chris Durfey was so sweet and let us borrow her water lily pad. It kept the kids happy and entertained. 

My favorite part is hanging out and talking with my friends. We don't see them enough since we moved from their neighborhood almost three years ago. 

It makes me happy that Hayden, Mason, and Brody still like to play in the sand. 

This is their finished sand castle. I always enjoy seeing what they come up with.

It was cute to see how much Etta loved hanging out with Halle and Maddi. The Wouldens have the cutest kids. 

Unfortunately, our tube popped. But Kev can try and fix that. Later that day, Kestyn and Ryker crashed on the wave runners. We were relieved that they were not hurt. The wave runners were badly damaged. Kestyn felt so bad about what happened. They both agreed to cover the repair costs. 

The Hydes brought this cool contraption. It is a fan that sits on top of a bucket of water. It puts off a nice mist. I would like to have one of those!

Kenna and Bryson were able to get off of work early and meet us at the Lake. I love that they live only 35 minutes away from the lake. 

We got another group picture with Megan in it. 

It was nice to get a picture of our family at the lake. We stopped and got some shakes before heading back to camp. 

The kids favorite dutch oven meal is Mesquite chicken. Bryson and Maddi helped peel the potatoes. Bryson had never had it before and is also now a fan. 

Halle enjoyed playing with the Frosts dog Willow. She was missing Ollie. He stayed with our neighbors the Sullivans. 

I love how big this camp site is. There was plenty of space to hang out all together. 

Mckenna calls this their "Chouch." It is a chair couch. Tessa gave it to them for their wedding gift. They have been married a year now!

We all enjoyed listening to scary stories around the campfire. Alvin even told his Hatchet story again. 

The next day the Houpts came and joined us at the lake. They were able to go out on our one working wave runner. 

Anders and Arwen had fun on the lily pad. 

It was fun hanging out and talking with my bestie. 

Our families went and got food at Zipps afterwards. It was another memorable year at Bear Lake. 

Summer cabin days

 

We went to the cabin July 5-6th. It was fun being up there with family. I enjoyed hanging out with my nephews Logan and Milo!

Cassie is always happy to hang out with Halle. We were glad that Kenna and Bryson were able to come up for the day. 

All of the kids love swinging on this rope in the barn. 

We enjoyed having Ollie up there with us. He loved running wild in the field. 

Ayla even wanted a turn to walk Ollie around the deck. 

It was fun having Aubrey, Cody, and Kristin come for the BBQ that night. I love these beautiful girls!!

Addy and Bailey enjoyed taking turns on the player piano. 

Logan loved it when his bestie, Parker, took him for four wheeler rides.

Addy took the other kids on lots of Gator rides. 

Hayden hanging out with his cousins Ethan and Austin. 

Kev took the kids for many horse rides around the pasture. 

On Saturday, we made a procession to the river. 

It was good for Ollie to rinse off his feet. He always get so dirty at the cabin. 

The kids had fun wading in the stream. Cassie and Logan are the cutest! They remind me so much of Halle and Parker when they were little!