Summer in Pictures

I inadvertently took the summer off from blogging - so rather than go back and tell every little detail of our summer I am just posting the pictures with a few thoughts.Our summer has been kind - just enough time to enjoy our own beautiful yard and just enough time to get out and enjoy many other busy activities!We went with Natalie and Chandler to the Children's Discovery Museum for Natalie's 1/2 birthday - such a fun place - I would love to go there at least once a month. Our favorite was the construction zone, magnet marble works wall, grocery store and water table, none of which I have pictures of. :(I enjoyed getting together with close friends for birthday luncheons - Dana hosted my birthday, I hosted Karen's birthday and Karen hosted Dana's birthday - So fun to have good friends with children the same age as your children!Love this picture of the kids in the sprinklers! So cute!!!!!Grant and his buddy Daimen - they look so cute in their matching outfits - even if Grant is super grumpy!We spent the 4th of July in Idaho Falls and enjoyed spending time with ALL of our family members (minus Trevor, Michelle, Tashia, and Neveah) We enjoyed a trip to the zoo, fireworks (one of the largest displays in the West, right on the river next to the beautiful temple), fireworks at home, and a beautiful tribute with a field full of flags!Jared celebrated his birthday with family parties, cakes and fun gifts. I love this picture of him with the boys - he is such a great daddy!!!!! These are the moments I live for!I think he enjoyed his Yankees - cake - even though it was definitely not one of my best.Scottie gave the boys a great ride at Jared birthday dinner - so fun!The boys tried really hard to reciprocate - funny!One of Brandon's new favorite games is to be wrapped up and pretend he is a present - it is so fun to open him up over and over again - he loves it!Grandma Gi Gi is so photogenic - I just love this picture!Grandma Osborn loves her three cute nephews!We spent the 24th of July at Buttlerville days - they put on a great party! The parade was great - the firetrucks sprayed everyone with water, we had at least half of the floats from the Days of 47 parade, and the kids were rewarded with lots of great candy!This is the float my mom helped work on with her stake - I think it turned out beautifully!Our red cheeks are evidence of how terribly hot it was!The highlight of the parade may well have been these cool four wheelers - I must confess I would love to get these for Brandon's birthday - and give rides around the neighborhood in them - they are so cool!!!!!The festivities included a great car show, bounce houses, yummy food vendors, entertainment, a firetruck water fight, helicopters to tour, and a great firework display for the finally! I love being able to spend time with family and old friends from my childhood ward! While we were looking at the helicopters we even ran into one of Jared's close cousins - small world - it was so fun to spend the rest of the day with them and we were even fortunate enough to watch the helicopter take off - WOWGrandpa with the boys for fireworks - HAPPYLove these smiles!!! When our summer began to get a little boring, and I got a little desperate for a break from a busy toddler - I got creative with grass clippings, cooking utensils, and plastic animals - the combination was great and gave me a good 2 hours of freedom (and the mess was minimal, just a quick sweep:))We also froze various toys in water and then chipped away at the ice to rescue the toys - Brandon loved it! Brandon has been collecting these Cars figures from the movie Cars - his collection is extensive, and has cost us and his grandparents a small fortune, but since they are the only toys he plays with I don't feel to bad. Well we have gotten a little wrapped up in finding ALL of the characters, but Sally and Red were impossible to find, unless you wanted to bid for them online and spend at least $20.00 per car (we weren't) so imagine our joy and surprise when my good friend Alana from Oregon sent this little treasure in the mail! I think I might have been more excited than Brandon, I wasn't even sure I wanted him to take them out of the box - I know that is terrible - but he earned them by pooping in the potty (sorry for the language) so they are out and enjoying hours of play time! -- Thanks again Alana - we love them!!!!!!!!!

We enjoyed a few trips to the zoo on our own or with friends - it was so much more fun with friends!Love this carousel!

When it was free National Parks weekend we made the long two hour drive to Promontory Point to see the trains. Jared and I appreciated the history of this great place but it was lost on Brandon, not a place I would recommend for little kids - it is dry and boring (aside from when the trains blew their whistles and drove on the tracks for a short distance.We were lucky enough to have one of Lindsey's soccer tournaments in Park City so we enjoyed a few of her games - this HUGE chair was so funny!Our garden has done very well this year and Brandon has especially enjoyed helping his dad plant and care for the garden. He was so proud of this zucchini he carried it all over the house, watched movies with it, and carried on a few little conversations with it. Then he enjoyed helping me turn it into yummy chocolate, chocolate chip, zucchini bread - YUM or "dewishish" as Brandon would say :)We also enjoyed a great visit from Wyn and DeeAnn in the motor home - Brandon loved sleeping out in it each night - I wish I would have taken pictures - next time!!!

All in all it has been a great summer - I am excited to see what surprises await us with fall! Hope you have all enjoyed your summer as well!!!!!!