Swimming at Gma Francis - July 4th

Gma and Gpa Francis were so very nice to allow our family the use of their pool for the afternoon. We all had a great time. I believe that I captured a picture of everyone here on the blog. It would have been great to have Anthony and Sarah here, but they couldn't make it. We are excited to see them soon. Thanks Gma and Gpa Francis!!

July 4th Parade

We had great seats this year at the parade. The city has a rule not to put out chairs until 6:00 the night before for reservation. Monica called at approx 3:00 and asked that we go and reserve some. I called mom and we agreed that we would meet at 5:30 to reserve our seats. We went down to the street and every spot was taken on the east side. It was pretty crappy--until a nice gentleman told me that I could have this certain spot. It was a driveway, however, it was not a used driveway anymore. Thank goodness for his suggestion, because we didn't want to have sun glaring in our faces the entire parade from being on the west side like the year before. I also found out that most people had been reserving their spots from appox. 3-4 o'clock for the parade. Next year we will have to remember this. We had a great time, got lots of candy, and enjoyed the shade!


Spencer was not sure what all the excitement was, however, he was sure a trooper. Thank goodness the parade was only an hour!

Brynn and Dominick getting candy

Oh, what a patriotic princess!!

Our family at the parade waiting for the beginning

Andrew and Michelle arrived just after us. Andrew being the great uncle, suggested to my boys that they needed to stretch for the candy races. He stretched with my boys and got some laughs from people, but we love him for being such a great uncle.

This clown act juggler came along before the parade began. He saw my two boys sitting and asked for their help. He then asked "dad" to help also. This "dad" helping is Andrew because he was sitting right by them. The real dad was holding Spencer. Anyway, in the pictures below you will see that they got handed these three juggling wands and they got lit on fire. Then, Karson first handed the gentleman his wand, followed by Braden, and then Andrew tossed his to him to start his juggling act, and balancing act on the cycle. He didn't fall, and started juggling just nicely. It was fun to have my kids involved!!

The wands just got lit

Karson just handed off his wand

Braden handed his off, and Andrew --or dad-- followed.

More Slip-N-Slide Fun With Cowans

The Cowan's came to visit for a while. The kids played on our slip-n-slide, played in the house, and had fun.

Kambree and Brynn getting the baseball (water squishy ball) wet

Spencer loves the water as long as it is not in his face

Yes, this could make her sick. It is secondary--gross. This is how we knew the kids were thirsty.


Dominick loved the end where the water pooled up

Mason came to play also. He is the model on the ground

Kambree loves to run on the slide - not slide on her belly.

Tyler Birthday - Baseball

For Tyler's birthday, we had a quick dinner, opened presents, had cake, and played ball down to the ball field just below our house. The kids have been begging to play ball down their because it is a real field. So, we loaded the bases(Thanks Brad), bats, and balls and had loads of fun. Spencer was the hardest to handle because he can't move yet. And, he is heavy to carry around - he is only 21 lbs.

Below are some fun pictures to look at. My favorite is when Braden was catching for Karson, Brynn joined him. The sun makes the picture hard so see, but it is sure fun to see the younger of our kids learning so much from the older. Brynn loves her brothers! Thanks everyone for the gifts for Tyler's B-day!

We love spending time as a family!