A Party and Another Parade

While we were at grandma's, we had a little party for Ty, Ry, Kate and Grandma June- who all have summer birthdays!  I love any excuse to get together and have cake...

Kate loves any excuse to get together and get presents... she was ALL on board for this kind of party!  Gma gave her a new "Run-punzel" swimsuit! 

Ty got a new Angry Birds (what did we do before there was Angry Birds?) Jenga game... LOVE!  I love any game that the boys can do together and without a lot of adult supervision!

Ryan got the corresponding AT-AT Walker Angry Birds game.. pretty darn cool!  Thank you grandma!

Then the kids had a special surprise for all the adults...  Are you ready?  It was very suspenseful...

It was another PARADE!  Put on by our cute kiddos!

They had flags and threw us candy...

This little bugger wouldn't look at me for ANYTHING!!!

I love our weekends at Declo.  They are SO peaceful and there is something so amazing about sitting outside in the evening- listening to the sprinklers and the cows lulling in the fields.  LOVE.  I am so grateful for grandma and papa for putting up with our food issues and letting us keep on coming to visit- my kids love it and so do Shaun and I.

I also have a tiny bit of irony to share... It's time to take some new pictures of the kids and I found the nicest little spot to do so... right in the middle of a wheat field.  Hahaha.  It's my own little inside joke- but I still crack myself up.

Kate flat refused to cooperate... so I guess we'll try again later in the summer.

Happy 4th!

I love the 4th of July... always have.  And this year- we got to celebrate the 4th in Declo with all of Shaun's family!  I love it when everybody gets to come home- it's totally chaotic and totally fun!  

Dani and I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure this hair-do out for our girls... but once we figured it out... I think it turned out pretty darn cute!  Thank-you Pinterest!

We had a yummy breakfast and then headed to Rupert for the annual 4th of July parade...

Sweet shades Dej...

And I LOVE the double glasses look... Not too many people can pull off 6-eyes with such style!

I always tear up just a little when the veteran's float comes by... It breaks my heart just a little to see how empty some of those floats are getting.  Both of my grandpas have passed on in recent years, both WWII veterans- I am SO grateful for their sacrifices and the sacrifices of untold others who have fought to keep our freedoms.

Cousin Krew being silly...

Dani and Chase brought a ton of the Snaps... much to my kids total delight!

I told Ty to smile and hold up four fingers... you know... for the fourth... instead he held up his fingers and grimaced at me.  Is this a sign he's getting older???  And also... can you see Ryan in front of him... quite the windup!!

Cousin Carson... love his shirt- his mom made it the night before on a whim.  She's amazing.

I giggled when Cousin Carson needed the earmuffs because of the sound of fireworks... Ryan used to wear them too!  Made me smile.

My gorgeous sister in law and her cute kids...  The four wheelers got a TON of use this trip- I swear they were on the entire time anyone went outside!

My babies and Gma Jacki...

Uncle Chase was our pyrotechnics guy this year... Ty followed him around like a little lost puppy.  Chase was pretty good to let him light a few... THANK YOU CHASE!  You made his year!

Carson kept a pretty close watch on the fireworks... his poor mom though...

Pretty Jeni...  Actually... all my sister in laws are gorgeous- on BOTH sides.  It's enough to give me a complex... If I worried about such things... :)

These two were getting tired... too bad the night was pretty young and they still had HOURS to go!

See what I mean?  So pretty.

I love the eyelashes on this girl!

We headed into Burley at about 9:00 (we watch the fireworks on the golf-course) and I couldn't get over the sunset!  It was soo pretty that night- I tried to get the sprinklers in the picture too... It was so picturesque!  I love our visits to the country!

We had some time to kill before the fireworks started so I played around with some of the settings on my camera- this is my boys with a couple of glowsticks.  They loved this picture because they thought it made them look like two Jedi Knights with their lightsabers... And I have to say... it kind of does!

Old Friends and New Buddies

We were so lucky these last couple of weeks... My best friend from high school rolled into town for a visit!  She and her family live in Houston and we rarely get a chance to actually see each other.  Granted we get to talk on the phone all the time- but sometimes... it's just not the same!  

We got together whenever we could (I had to share with her family), which was good- since all the kids got along swimmingly!  

We went to the park together... Where Kate and Becca promptly buried Barbies in the sand...

And my boys drug little Megan and Allie over for a baseball game...

We had so much fun that we got together again to go on a hike up Donut Falls...

and we visited a splash pad and then we ditched the kids and got together with another amazing friend for a late dinner.  The Huffs were here for two weeks and it just wasn't enough!

But I will say that I think it's pretty amazing that we were so close in high school and have stayed that way through college, marriage, kids and crazy jobs... I am so blessed to have such an amazing friend!