Boat making was the big project for the 1st of July because the big cousin boat race was coming up in a few days.
July 4th started early with Mark and I doing lots and lots of work for the neighborhood breakfast. The boys had fun.
Then I headed up to the ranch where I talked to my cousins at the Cannon family BBQ and Timmy got in the hot tub while Brian worked all day on building his fort.
We celebrated Connor's first birthday and remembered how he surprised Mandy and came on the 4th last year!
Then I took the boys to the Oakley rodeo! It was fun to share something with them that I did every year growing up.
Then there were so many people sleeping at the ranch I decided to show the kids how I used to sleep all summer long when I was a kid. We slept out on the trampoline and even got a little rained on. They got the true experience. Brian woke early as usual and used my phone to take pictures of me and Timmy sleeping.
That morning was the big boat race! I still can't believe the detail in those boats my nieces and nephews made.
Back at home the kids played in the sand and I used the cool mornings to work with the ponies.
Brian started riding on his own.
We got two extra little chickens from Allison and we have been trying to integrate them into our current flock with little success. While I am supervising I can protect them from the bigger chickens, but I am too worried to leave them alone. For now they are living happily in the goat barn.
Timmy's eye just missed getting pecked out by our hen, which the boys named pecky glasses because she loves to peck at Brian's glasses and obviously eye balls. Since then she has gotten so much nicer because the boys don't let her chase them anymore.
Mark filled the barn with hay with a little help from a friend. I felt bad because Mark got covered in hives and he couldn't breath well for days and days following the hay loading. He was super allergic to this load.
More pony riding for the boys!
One morning after riding the ponies we found our hen Creamy sitting on an egg behind the old water trough and then Timmy watched her lay one! I think the first one was from another hen. We were not expecting them to lay so soon, but we were so incredibly excited to get our first two eggs!
That night Mark went right to work building the nesting boxes for them to lay eggs in. Just last night (August 11) we got 11 eggs in the nests which means all the hens are laying now and laying in the nesting boxes.
We watched our garden grow and enjoyed the harvest.
We also watched a little hummingbird sit on her eggs and feed the two little babies in the tiny little nest that she built just outside our front window.
Then Mark went to priesthood encampment with the ward young men and I took the boys to the Shakespeare Festival with my mom and Sisters. I got to take the boys to Mary Poppins the first day there. They loved it and I loved going to a play with them.
Because of a hotel mess up on the rooms, I ended up in the jacuzzi suite. The boys loved warming up in the "hot tub" between swims in the cold pool.
Here we are enjoying the Green Show.
I love being with my sisters! They will always be my best friends!
At the Pioneer Museum these boys spent forever doing the math and deciding how much of what supplies they could take across the planes in their covered wagon. It was very interesting to hear their conversations and arguments for why they wanted to bring what. They ended up with a huge barrel of hard tack candy in the wagon and chose to leave all their cooking supplies behind.
Timmy taught the girls how to play checkers.
One evening I put the boys in the day care and I went to see Much Ado About Nothing in the new outdoor theater. It was amazing!
Then I stopped at Cove Fort with the boys. They thought it was pretty cool!
One Sunday in July we visited the baby goats right next to our church before we headed home. It made me miss our goats Eddie and Teddy a bit.
I volunteered to accompany the cub scouts to Cub Country day camp one day as this was Brian's first year going. He had a blast and we were both very dirty and tired at the end of the day.
While we were at Cub Country, Mark took Timmy to work with him and then shopping and then to the airport to pick up Daniel and Alice from their mission!
Later than afternoon after Brian and I got cleaned up we went to their house to welcome them home too! We love having them home and spending all the time we can with them!
One day in July we went to the aquarium. We love that place!
Mark and I took a night to clean out the large barn room and we made it into a bike shop/toy garage.
There was one last day when all the cousins could get together at the ranch before the Scotts went to Canada. The boys were in heaven.
More pony riding at home in the mornings!
And cello practice too!
Hanging out with the chickens and watching "chicken TV" is one of our favorite things to do in the evenings.
The boys finally convinced me to take them to Lagoon at the end of the month. They loved it especially with their cousins.
It was a very hot day so we went on Rattlesnake Rapids four times and got soaked each time!
The last weekend in July Mark took the boys to father and sons camp out for one night. At first Timmy did not want to go, so he was going to stay home with me, and Mark was just going to take Brian. Then 5 minutes before they left, Timmy changed his mind and we quickly packed his stuff and I found myself all alone for the night!
I was not expecting to be by myself that night and I didn't have a plan for what I would do...yet. I finished my chores outside and I took a picture of my dirty pants and boots because I was thinking about how many pairs of clothes I go through each day.
Then I decided to get really cleaned up (not just the little cleaned up I usually do after working outside) and head to the Salt Lake Temple, since I had the whole night to myself! It was nice and a little weird to be driving around without the boys in the back.
I very much enjoyed my temple visit and I am grateful for the temple and the blessings that come from attending. Mark and the boys had fun camping and arrived home dirty but safe the next morning. I was rejuvenated and Mark was tired with good reason, so he took a nap while I took care of the kids. July ended and now it is almost mid August and Brian and Timmy start school this Wednesday! July was so fun and I love this time in my life. I am grateful for the laid-back fun July I had with Brian and Timmy and with family. I am so blessed!
