Happy 4th of July!

Happy Forth of July! Even though I'm actually posting this on September 1st, hopefully this picture will get you in the patriotic mood. 

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Our 4th of July has lots of traditions, the setting for all the festivities is my dad's hometown of Huntsville.  It's grown a lot since I was little, but they do their best to have a small town feel to all the 4th of July goings-on.  My Aunt and Uncle own the house my grandpa built for my grandma when they were engaged.  It always feels just a little bit like stepping back into time when I go there, especially the '50's style kitchen and sitting room that haven't changed much since grandma was alive.  Grandma had very classic taste and I love the feel of things worn well through time.  My kids don't notice the details in the house, they just settle right in to chasing, giggling, and playing hard until they drop with their cousins. 

 Mom and Dad have brought their two hammocks the last few years, but if you want to sit in them be prepared for some competition, they are well liked.  This time the kids decided that there needed to be a "boy's hammock" and a "girl's hammock."  Poor Reid is trying to keep his hammock from collapsing, but it's hard when you've got four little boys bouncing and rocking and basically trying to collapse it. 

 The girls hammock was a little quieter, but there was plenty of giggling and a little tipping, too.

 Elizabeth, of course, is completely shocked at their behavior.

 

 The next morning starts early with the local police going through the town with their sirens to wake everyone up at 6:00 for the 10K/5K/Fun Run and the pancake breakfast.  Some of us (this year there was four--me, Farris, Chad and Reid) go for the run, the rest get our kids ready (thank you all who struggle getting our five kids dressed and presentable and get them to the breakfast while Farris and I run, our children would be hungry ragmuffins without you!) and up to the breakfast and save our usual spot for the parade.  Farris did great this year, I was a little slower than last year. I guess the "no training at all" idea wasn't very good.  Maybe next year!

 After we've all eaten and cleaned up, it's time for the parade.  This year we had a bunch of our Trickler cousins come, too.  It was fun to see them, especially my cousin Amy who had been living in DC, and is now in Italy.  I haven't seen her and her family as much as I would like to, and it will probably be a while until I see her again, so it was fun catching up while chasing babies together.  Farris' sister and her family came again, too, it's a fun tradition to have them come up every year.  Scott runs the 10K with Farris and Cindi and I have a chance to catch up while the kids all run wild together. 

The kids took Melissa's camera and had loads of fun with it.

 Mom always brings something for the kids to hold (or occasionally throw) during the parade.  A favorite is when she brings little flags for everyone. 

 Abby snuggled right into my cousin Travis.  I think she melted his heart a little bit.

 She looks like she's planning some dastardly deed, doesn't she.

 Every year the parade starts with some men and boys in Revolutionary War costumes and a very old, very loud cannon. Very loud.

 The boys.

 Michael has four sisters.  He's always so glad when my three boys come!

That was Abby's popcorn.  At least in her little head is was. 

Here's a shot of most of our group.  I think it's the biggest we've had yet!  Poor Aunt DaNeice got invaded this year, but she's such a sweet softie, I think she enjoyed it very much.

After the parade we headed back to the house for a yummy lunch and lots more chatting and playing.  That gorilla gets carried all over the place.

Aunt DaNiece and Dad went for a ride. Dad hadn't been on a bike for years, but I think he enjoyed going around the block a few times.  I loved seeing this. 

 

In the last few years we've started a tradition of watching the fireworks from the backyard and then have our own show with glowsticks.  The kids dance and run and have light saber fights and generally have a blast until they are so exhausted they can't see straight.  Then it's back into the tents until we pack up in the morning.  So much fun every year. 

Happiness in June (and a little bit of July)

I seem to be settling in a once a month type of pattern.  I'll try to do better.  But SUMMER....it's so crazy/busy/fun/very, very tiring. 

That's how the first part of June was anyway.  Because of this:

 

Yup, Girl's Camp.  That's happiness wrapped in a cloak of complete exhaustion.  So much fun but all of us leaders were tired for about a week after we came home (or longer).  We went to Aspen Lakes, just outside of Heber City.  It was wonderful.  They are very relaxed (for our service project we climbed up on the steep roof of the pavilion to spray paint the exhaust fan.  Scared me silly!) and a gorgeous location.  There was lakes with canoes, zip lines, an obstacle course, a really cool tower that reminded us of King Benjamin, and the couple missionaries that worked there were so sweet.

 And while we were in the canoes, we saw a moose with her sweet calf. See the brown spot in all the reeds on the bank?  That's a moose.  I'd never seen a moose calf, so very cute, although we didn't get close to get a really good look.  Some of the girls were trying to get closer, and that scared me again.  Teenagers!  Those girls were amazing during the week, though, so much fun and energy and they helped and taught and were wonderful.

 So I came home and slept, slept, slept, and then it was Father's day.  It was kind of camping influenced this year.  We got him a hydration backpack and a super comfortable camp chair. 

My camera was acting weird, but you can see Farris enjoying the chair...and Abby making off with the Swedish fish we gave him.

Abby is happy when she plays dress up.  She dressed up in a dinosaur costume and was running around growling at everyone.  I know, I know, it's totally a parent-who-thinks-their-kid-is-too-cute moment, but I really do think she's too cute. I love how she waddles, it makes me laugh every time.

She's so cute she had her own parade!  No, just kidding, we had a neighborhood parade, a favorite tradition going on three years now.  The kids can dress up in costumes and decorate their bikes/scooters/strollers/what have you and the kids love it.  No candy required, unlike a regular parade.  And unfortunately, I took two pictures and the camera battery died, so there you go.

 

 After we got it charged again, Felicity borrowed the camera to take pictures of Abigail's cute chubby little fingers on the piano.  Such a sweet picture.  She loves the piano, but let's just say she's not a prodigy.  Yet anyway.

The next weekend we met Melissa and Nicki up the canyon and camped together.  Nicki's birthday is the day after Joseph's, so we had birthday cake (yummy ice cream cake from Cold Stone).  Joseph was practically dancing,  Nicki took it a little calmer.  Abigail really enjoyed it.

 Nicki and Melissa have lots of neat camping gear, including a tent that has a doggy door. Seriously, it has a doggy door, how cool is that!?!  No dogs in our camp site, but the kids loved it.  Anything little is amazing to kids.  And really, to adults, too.

 Abby borrowed a hat and snuggled into Nicki and Melissa's gear.  There seems to be a lot of Abigail pictures.  I guess two year olds (almost, almost) are just very photogenic.

 The next morning we packed up and hiked the grotto. A perfect hike with kids, with fun at the end.

 But the water was very cold.  That's what Seth's face is saying in this picture.

 Farris with Abby in the backpack.

 Felicity wasn't feeling very good, and by the time we got back to the van she had a fever and fell asleep almost immediately.  But she still smiled for the camera.

 Farris handed Abigail to me and got drenched.  In that cold, cold water.  I'm a chicken when it comes to cold water, I'll get in the hot pots instead.

 The hike has lots of logs crossing and crisscrossing the stream. We were inspired with the logs that had moss, they would be perfect for a fairy garden.

 On the way home we stopped at a park to eat lunch and Caleb was trying to teach Abigail how to roll down the slope.  She mostly went sideways, then she'd sit up and look at him and try to roll down, and not so much.  Like with the piano, she's not a prodigy.  Yet.

 Then it was Joseph's birthday.  Which always makes him happy, happy, happy.  In fact, tonight we had the kids tell us their happiest and their saddest thing that happened today, and his saddest thing was that it wasn't his birthday.  He's 7 now, which astounds me and it shouldn't, but it does.  For his cake he wanted a number 7 with cars on it, kind of like Seth's.

 Yes, that is a number 6 on his 7th birthday cake.  But see the other candle next to it?  That means that 6+1=7.  And it also means that we need to buy more birthday candles and I vetoed using just matches stuck in the cake.

 His favorite presents?  Definitely the basketball (just like Caleb got) and a scooter.  He was so excited.  I still love getting presents for these kids, they get excited for so many things and are so happy. 

 We sure love our Joseph.  His personality is fun and crazy and he gets wild ideas and giggles all the time.  He loves his family and gives exuberant hugs.  He's our friendly kid and loves being around people.  Anyone, anyone to play with and nothing makes him sadder (except it not being his birthday) then when no one is around to play with.  He doesn't get bored, he gets lonely.  Another funny thing about him?  He calls himself Big J.  Yes, he makes us laugh every day.

 And Caleb found a huge flake in the frosted flakes and was so happy about it he had me take a picture before he ate it.  And enjoyed it, because the kids don't get frosted flakes very often.

 And what makes me happy?  Paint.  I liked the red on our living room walls, but I was slowly getting to unlike it more and more.  So I decided to completely reverse it to a nice quiet, comforting, soft gray.  And I found out that Tarilynn loves to paint.  That made me happy, too!  So she came over and helped and helped and then got Blake to help.  Just changing the background of our living room changed the mood so much.  I love it. 

I have a few more changes planned and I'd love to paint more of the house, but I need to convince Farris that we need to paint more.  He likes the new color, too, so maybe it will be easier to convince him now. Tarilynn, get your brushes ready!  Hopefully, any way!