Jumpin' Jelly Beans... Where Did JULY Go?

Here's our fast and furious month of JULY! I cannot believe it's almost over. I though I better get bloggin' now though, because August is always so very busy. We had a fun month. Here are some highlights.

Sid's cousin Kevin and his wife Krista gave us a whole bunch of yummy apricots off their tree, so we made apricot pie. We made two of them, one for them, and one for us. Canyon decorated the top of our pie. He made it look like a tiger, of course. The only apricot pie in the world with a tiger on the top....I would think.

Brooklyn, Canyon and I adventured off to the Aquarium one day. They had a blast seeing all the animals and fish. Here's even a video of Canyon petting a stingray!

Brooklyn as a mermaid, and Jaxon and Canyon had a blast pulling each other on the little trike.

We had a pajama party on the front lawn while our big brave daddy went and lit all of the fireworks for us. OOOOOH....AHHHHHH!

Four wheeling on the roads above Bear Lake....oh what a view!

The 4th of July was a BLAST, especially since the kids were all sick the week before. We were ready for some fun, and ready to get out of the house. We all went to the Centerville party in the park for a concert, some bounce houses, some rock wall climbing, and some pretty great fireworks, then we watched Centerville Parade the next morning. We headed up to Bear Lake that afternoon for some 4 wheeling, some swimming, some beaching, some canoeing. some walks on the boardwalk, and some more fireworks. I LOVE FIREWORKS! I LOVE PARADES! I LOVE THE USA. I LOVE PATRIOTISM! I LOVE THE 4th OF JULY! My family got sick of me saying that, but I DO!!!!!! My favorite picture is of my family gazing up into the sky watching the fireworks, all huddled together in each other's arms, and me not being able to take my eyes off of THEM. I am so blessed to have such a great family and live in such a wonderful country! What a neat time we had that weekend.

Sid's dad made that blue fiber glass canoe in their garage when Sid's dad was in scouts about 45 years ago. Sid was only a couple of years old but still remembers the fiber glass smell throughout the house. Thanks to grandpa Davis for getting it back out for us to use. It's getting a lot of use. It still floats. What a neat history it has.

We were able to go to the Oquirrah (sp?) Hills Temple Open House with my parents and two sisters and some of their kids. What a neat experience.

We had a marvelous time at the Ivie Family Reuinion. We spent one day sending off the boys to either go fishing with Grandpa or golfing while the girls all went to get manicures and icecream. The next day we all went canoeing at Tony Grove. Jaxon tried his skills at "gunnel jumping" for the first time. He was awesome! (see video, but turn the sound down or you'll just hear this obnoxious laugh... hmm, I'm not sure who it might be). The next day we went swimming at the aquatic center in Logan. What a party!

Jaxon spent the week at Grandma and Grandpa Ivie's house, and Canyon spent the week with his cousin, Brittany..... so Karen and Brooklyn went the the 24th of July festivities all by ourselves. (Dad was at work.) We had a fun time... Girl's Day Out. We had a snow cone and a creamie, then we were still hot and hungry, so we went back and got a creamie and a snowcone. Pony rides, fishing pond, ferris wheel, then we went home to get her dad so we could lug him to the parade. What a party. The boys had fun in their respective places as well.

Here are some remodeling updates. Sid putting in the insulation in our new room, and a picture of our new BIG window. Sheet rock is happening this week. Paint coming soon. :) Hopefully we'll be able to show you the completed AFTER pictures next time.

Hope all is well with you. Love to your all.

Here's to June!

Here's our month of June in a nutshell. We were busy as ever, but that's what life is all about. Better busy than bored! Happy summer vacation. It's going fast!

We took Jaxon and 8 of his friends to Farmington Pond to go canoeing for his birthday party, then came back and cooked hotdogs and "shmarshmallows" (Canyonism). Then we decorated t-shirts with bleach (backwards tye dyeing!). It was such a fun (7 hour) party. I hope that they have good childhood memories...they BETTER!

My sister, Cindy, took one look at Brooklyn's twirly skirt and decided she had to have one too. So I made her one. It's so fun to make my sister and my daughter so very happy by such a simple act. And what a cute picture, too! Love to you both!

Of course we've been to Lagoon a few times this summer.... Canyon has decided that he is definately a BIG kid now... Colusses, Wicked, big rollar coaster... you name it. He's about 1/2 inch on the tall side of the marker, and he has left the baby boats and the whales behind now. How come my little boy grew up without asking me? They have been having so much fun going with their cousins a few times this summer, but I left my camera home those days.

Brooklyn went to the Princess Festival with her little cousin Brittany and her big "cousin friend" Kristi in Lindon. LaDawn and I went along for the ride. It was a great day and a fund raiser to boot! They had a blast meeting all the princes and princesses and doing all the fun activities.

Here is a cute picture of Brooklyn at her last dancing competition. She has since decided that she's moving on to other things in her life. She wants to try t-ball or soccer now. She also is interested in gymnastics. We'll see what her passion is in the fall. We'll take a break from it all for the rest of the summer. She was so happy to get a "trophy", a crystal glass block with a ballerina carved inside of it. She loves it, but couldn't have cared less what "place" her dance team took....as it should be. "Dance like nobody is looking" comes to mind. I can't seem to figure out how to get the video of her next to the picture of her, but search a little and somewhere in this blog is the very cute video of her dancing to "Lollipop, Lollipop". She's the one in black sleeves because she didn't feel modest enough in her dancing outfit without some sleeves. By golly, we found her some sleeves.... Yay, my daughter, way to stand up for modesty already in your own little 4 year old world.

We met some of the family and went to the Logan Rodeo, one of our very favorite summer activities. This is a picture of Brooklyn sporting her other new skirt, a fourth of July theme. It's been fun to get the sewing machine out a little bit again, especially when you're making something your daughter loves. Canyon just had to wear his cowboy shirt and hat again, but sadly, we could only find one boot right when we were leaving. A bootless cowboy? Yup, that's him. Gotta love him!

Jaxon went to Webelos day camp at Camp Tracey. They needed another parent volunteer and I was able to go capture these pictures of my boy. He had a blast, and I had a blast just watching him. I'm grateful for these small moments. What a great boy I have.

MIRACULOUS PROOF! To all those naysayers (including and especially myself) that ever said that I couldn't make bread! LOOK with your own eyes. I feel like I have conquered a huge demon on my back. And it even tastes good too! I've made about a dozen loaves in about 2 weeks. It's fun, and doesn't take all day. I have my friend JoAnne Jenkins to thanks. She is a pro, and heard of my bread woes, invited me over for private lessons, the secret to the yeast, and WHA LA! The proof is in the (bread) pudding! Thanks Friend!

Here are some BEFORE pictures of our basement remodeling job. We are turning a non finished storage room into a laundry room and preschool room/family room. Sid's brother, Scott is helping us with his abundance of skill and knowledge. He is doing a marvelous job. He's so patient with our wants and needs list as it pertains to this project.

Hopefully you'll see our beautiful AFTER pictures really soon. It's coming along! Yeah! It's amazing how remodeling one room can put your entire house into CHAOS!

Canyon went "swimming" in the front yard. This picture makes ma laugh. A little over preparation for 4 inches of water, maybe? Gotta love my Canyon!

We had fun at the Henrie Reunion in Tremonton. Here is a picture of Sid and his Aunt Teddy and cousins Wendy and Danni and sister Jayna. It was a great day.


This is the dancing video of Brooklyn. So sorry it's out of place. Someday I'll figure this thing out. P.S. the bald head that you see is NOT her dad! (Just in case you were wondering.)

So here it is. Sorry it's a little out of order. Hopefully you'll still get a good overview. I sure love keeping up on your events. Thanks for sharing. Until next time... Karen