Sunday, July 6, 2025

Stars, Stripes, and Summer Nights

Since Tyler and I went to the wedding, our kids went up to the cabin for 4th of July weekend. We love the 4th of July at Hannah. Tyler and I could only come up for a day, but we made the most of it. We got up to Hanna just in time for the parade. It was a hot day!


If you're wondering what it takes to get the kids to look so happy in the pictures: Tracy can always get a smile out of the kids. 

We love all the parade floats and the candy. 


After the parade we went back to the cabin. The kids are practicing for Hang Time at Lagoon. 

We played games, took some naps, and had a fun bar-b-q. 
Tyler has been trying to get us to go to the rodeo for years, and this year we finally made it happen. The rodeo was so much fun! We even got to see fireworks at the end. 







 Happy 4th of July!!

Friday, July 4, 2025

Weirdest 4th of July Ever!

So it's kind of a long story, but Darren impulsively decided to get married. Darren met Jamie back in March? By early June he told us he moved in with her, and then just a few days later he texted me to say he was getting married to her on July 4th. I was shocked, but wanted to be supportive, so I invited myself to their backyard wedding. It was a small event with just my parents, Jamie's parents, Jamie's brother and us. It was a quick event... started at 5:00 and was over by 7:00. But alas, he is married and hopefully happy. Oh, also Darren thinks he has stomach cancer. He also doesn't have a job, so that's a great way to start a marriage. 


I disagree with a lot of Darren's life choices, but I truly hope he finds peace and happiness. 

My mom was weird. She kept hugging Darren like this until my dad had to pry her off of him. 


The poor Bishop... This was his first time officiating a wedding. Bet he won't forget it. 


Tyler and I were a little frazzled after the event, so we went and got ice cream and watched fireworks at Sandy Park. Weirdest 4th of July ever. 

Monday, June 30, 2025

June Vibes Only

This summer is already turning out to be my favorite summer ever. I don't know what changed... maybe it's that the kids are older and we can do  more things now, maybe it's that I realized Makayla has 5 more summers before she's 18, but whatever it is, we are living it up this summer, and I love it!

Summer mornings mean lazy mornings. The kids love to sneak into our bed. 

Caden is such a hard worker. He asks to go to the gym everyday to practice shooting. I am so impressed with his dedication. 
While Makayla was at FSY we decided to go to the Zoo. Apparently Brynnli doesn't remember when we had a season pass to the zoo when she was 2 and we went all the time because she claims she has never been. 

We hit all of the iconic spots at the zoo like the lion drinking fountain that hasn't changed since I was a little kid and the "How do you Measure up" sign. 





We saw lions, and tigers, and bears... oh my! And monkeys, and rhinos, and gorillas and giraffes. 



We went to the trivia show and Brynnli was so disappointed that she didn't get picked to answer a question, so she insisted we go back to the 2nd show. Brynn was prepared to answer all the questions because she knew the answers from the first show. We thought Brynnli was really into zoology, but turns out she just wanted to win a prize, which she did... she won the big prize at the end of the show by answering a question. She was so excited about her stuffed monkey!

On the way out we stopped to see the giraffes who were getting their dinner. We got up close and personal to them... check out that long tongue.. kind of gross if you ask me. 

Since Makayla was gone and Dad was out of town, the kids and I had a great time celebrating with panookies. 
When dad got home from his work trip we celebrated Father's Day. We love Tyler so much and are so grateful to him for all he does for us. He's the one who makes us laugh everyday, who always looks at the positive side of things, and who shows us how to lead by his example. Happy Father's day to the best one out there. 



We've got some baby birds in our tree. The mom was only a little bit smarter this year and built her nest not by the window well (check out last year's blog where I had to rescue the baby birds yet again). Hopefully these birds make it this year. 


Brynnli got her "flipper". It's a retainer with a fake tooth to hold the space until her K9's come in. She looks so cute with her new smile!
Summer nails? Yes please!!
It was just me and Brynn one night, so we went to see Lilo and Stitch at the movie theatre. I really liked the movie and can't wait to watch it with all the kids soon. 

Then one night it was just me and Makayla, so we went to grab dinner together at Cafe Rio. I have really loved this one on one time with the kids. 
Tyler was at stake camp for our anniversary, but look what was delivered to our house! Tyler definitely earned bonus points for that one!! Tyler even remembered that my favorite flowers are Gerber daisies. 
Grandma and Grandpa's pool is open, so we have spent a few fun days here. Brynnli made it a goal to spend at least one day a week at a pool, and so far she has been able to do it. 
Lunch at the Habit with my favorites!!

My mom is getting more and more tired on our day out. She has to get a nap in wherever she can. 
Tammy and Bruce put a pool in their backyard. It is amazing and we had so much fun swimming. Check out Brynnli's toe touch!!

Crumbl cookies? Yes please!!
We all love Tyler's new Blackstone grill. He has made the yummiest dinners lately. 
Just playing a little rubrics cube challenge to see who could solve it the fastest. Cam won this round, but Caden was a close 2nd. 
Geez, kids and their phones. We go to the pool and all they want to do is look at their stupid phones. 

Join us for more fun because the summer has just begun!!