The absolute wonderful month of.....

.....JULY!

Oh how I LOVE this month.  

 ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.

There is not a dull moment at this house during July.

Every weekend is jam packed with plans, plans and more plans....

and well of course, every night is just bliss !

We love summer!

(way too much!)

3 things i LOVE:

1. Throwing parties!

2. The 4th of July!

3. The Logan fireworks!

So I love to combine all 3 things into one big day! (but i gotta be honest...the 4th of July isn't just ONE day for us.  It's like 4 days in one!

So we started this party on the 2nd of July!

  Let me tell you the schedule for this day. 

Cause it's like my one of my most FAVORITE days ever!

First thing I do is wake up, throw the kiddos in the car and drive up to campus to stake out our spot for watching fireworks!..... Then we get back home and I start with all my 

prepping,

decorating,

cooking

& baking 

for the evening ahead!

The dinner, the set up, the favors and....

......the company and fireworks!!!!

 Right before the fireworks!

Everyone admiring the pretty lit up sky :)

Does it get any better than this??? I submit, that it does not!

"The annual picture!"  A picture that started the dating 9 years ago! 

 I don't know if Cameron was more excited to set off his fireworks at home or see the big ones!

All we know is....

Korver was not very sure about the loud noises, hence the terrified face!! :)

Onto July 3rd.....

We had a family party at Rex's aunts house.  So I wanted to try these fun red, white, and blue cupcakes! :)

I love baking fun stuff!

(Have I mentioned that....)

The kids had a fabulous time playing in the punch bowl.....

But this was a highlight....watching Korver devour those cupcakes!

(He snuck his way up on the table and started eating them like this!)

It was a fun day! Rex's fam is so wonderful! We ♥ them!

July 4th!!!!!

We made the most of this day!!  I like it to last as long as possible...so what did I do??

  I started my day at 5 AM !!!!!!! 

I ran my first 15 K with Janell and Jeremy!  (9.2 miles BABY !!!!) This was awesome!!!!  Amazing actually that I finished! I ran the entire race without walking...and that was my goal!

The runnin' crew. Great way to start the day!

I came home and found LOTS of these buried in the yard! 

While I was running, everyone was back at the house slaving away in the yard!

These 2 were definitely up to no good......

Good thing they left such a cute mark!!! :)  (sorry dad!)

 Then we headed to a family reunion for Rex's family that afternoon!

I'd been trying to make a trifle in this dish I got at Tai Pan awhile back....  

Could have been prettier looking, but I was in a hurry :) At least it tasted good. (I think!)

What can I say...this holiday makes me love baking, even if I'm not good at it!

Rex with his padre.....

Cameron was so excited to hit the pinata....but his face shows it all.  He was dissapointed with his loot. :) 

I think the late nights of the weekend were definitely catching up! :)

Then.... we headed to good ole' Brigham City for the FIREWORKS!!!

 

The boys found the treats, and all I can say is:

THEY. LOVE. CHERRY. NIBS.

 Sometimes, the only thing to do while waiting for fireworks to start...is take pictures :)

 The kids LOVE being with Grandpa and Grandma!

 Did I mention they love these nibs!!??

Cameron kept covering her eyes pretending the fireworks had started and she missed them.  

He thought he was pretty funny.

I thought he was pretty cute. :) 

My favorite part of this holiday?

Just being with all of these fun people!  Especially this guy. ♥

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{2nd week of July}

Pool days!

 I LOVE having my sis back in the same town as us again, so we played lots this summer! The kids love her to death!

We spent lots of time here!

Cameron LOVES this place, he became such an AWESOME swimmer!

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A big moment for the LBC! (little Brigham City)

 My mom called me and said they were putting the Angel Moroni on top of the Brigham temple!  So I thought it'd be a great opportunity for Cameron to see this! 

He was captivated by the machinery and where Moroni was!!

 The weather was HORRIBLE. It poured buckets and the wind blew like crazy! 

It delayed the event for hours!! but....

 They finally got the ok, to place it on top and that....

was worth the wait!

My dad took this pic of us sitting here, and it amazes me look at HOW MANY PEOPLE stood in this rain and wind for hours to see this! 

Incredible!

I can't wait till it's finished !!!!!

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{The yard!}

The dreaded rake.  ughhh that FINAL RAKING was a killer!! 

 We (mostly Rex) SPENT a lot of our days and nights working HARD on getting this yard done!!!!

 We had family helping us lots!!

 He was our supervisor most of the time! 

 Like I said...and nights were spent working too! Dedicated workers! 

Then the following Monday morning...We looked out the window to see this!

Our yard was finally ready for the hydroseeding and we were READY to be done working on it!

8 weeks later....We're gonna have GRASS baby! GRASS!!!!

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{my BABY is 2!}

 He wasn't quite sure what to think of all this attention for him! I may have been more excited that morning than him!

 He always wants to ride bikes when he sees Cameron riding....

too bad it's a tiny bit too big for him....next summer!

 I asked him what he wanted for "Breakust".....

1. Waffles. Lots of waffles.

We took the kids to see "Cars 2" .... they LOVED the popcorn...more than the movie!

I kept asking him what he wanted me to make for his cake....The only thing he'd ever say was 

"Ball", I like the Ball." 

So I figured since I did a baseball cake last year...We'd go 'Summery' and add beach balls!

Lets be honest. Not my best. I procrastinated on planning this cake, and it definitely shows. :)

 It happens when getting ready to head on vay-cay.

 Loving his big fat piece of cake.  

Actually....

 He just ate the frosting. :)

Happy Birthday my sweet lil baby  (insert tear) toddler! 

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{I'm one year older...}

It's a sad day, when you are EXCITED that this is your BIRTHDAY PRESENT! 

When Rexy gave this to me, I was soooo happy!

 Now....

The question...which Dyson is better? 

I want input from people here. I really am trying to decide STILL!!!!

 So...this card was attached to my sweet lil fancy gift, and I must say. .

The card was my FAVORITE part of the entire DAY.  I woudn't usually share such a personal thing...But I can't help but share.

  I read it like 50 times and still smile every time. 

 So I want to remember it... So here it is, in 3 sections.

♥Melts my heart.♥  

 Interesting Fact:

I have never had my birthday anywhere but on the top of Lava Ranch mountain. (except when we lived in NYC!).

Our annual fam camping trip ALWAYS falls over my birthday.

This year we left the morning of...So my sisters, being the ABSOLUTE GREATEST SISTERS EVER,

wanted to make sure I was not forgotten:

I woke up to go for my morning run and then come back and start the madness of packing everything up for Lava.  Only to head out into my kitchen to see them standing there! (I about had a heart attack!)

They had other plans for me!

They had snuck over to my house at like 6 in the MORNING and cooked me a GOURMET breakfast!

 It was super yummy and fabulous!

Rex just didn't do a very good job of keeping me in bed so they could serve it in "bed"

I thought the scare factor totally added to the morning! :) It was awesome!  

 Then once we got up to the property, My sisters ONCE AGAIN, had pulled another surprise out from under their belts, and brought this AWESOME cake out! They had stayed home making it all day!

Just for me! :)

They are the absolute greatest sisters in the ENTIRE WORLD. 

i LOVE them to pieces!

Wow, That cake is gonna start on fire, there is so many candles. (hey, at least I'm still a few years away from 30, unlike my hubs :)

To end the big day, Rexy took me on a 4 wheeler ride to see the sunset. 

 It's my favorite thing while on top of that mountain. :)

Fab day. :)

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{the trip to Lava}

Always so many fun things to do and not enough time....

...so the highlights!

 The kids LOVED swinging on the tire swing with Grandpa! 

Of course, we hit the big pool~! (thats the whole fam!)

 Cam was so excited to hit the slides, that kid had no fear! ) Hence, his big smile on the stairs!

 Of course, we all had to try the slides out..... This isn't just for the kids :)

My sun babies....They LOVE the water!

 and licorice. :) Me too.  

 Daddy and Korv enjoyin' the water.....

Then the exciting part....the part where we all convince each other that jumping off platforms is fun and NOT scary. :)

Needless to say, after all that.....We were all exhausted!

  The ROPE SWING!  (Todd and Rex going off here)

 Lots of 4 wheelin' to be done!

 The kids LOVE the "brrrrmmmm brrmmmm's"

And let's not forget...the campfires each night! 

ahhh the fire! My favorite part!

It's all my favorite! :)

I was not ready to head home...I knew what was awaiting me the week ahead!

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{Girls Camp}

Ok, so I have to admit, I wasnt sure how EXCITED I was about going to girls camp again.  I went a couple years ago when I was 8 MONTHS PREGO with Korver (and slep on a cot!) and it was....not my FAVORITE. But come on, who would love camping at 8 months prego and being in charge of a bunch of teenagers.....my 2 kids are enough for me half the time! 

 But that time, turned out pretty fun and well...I didn't doubt that this time would be just as fun. I just knew the work before was going to be the kicker!....

 This was the scene at 11:00 p.m. the night before we left! And that was just the FOOD!

Who knew girls could eat so much?

We arrived!!! The girls got the first tent up! 

 We did so many things, I couldn't even list them all! Here is a few of the fav's!

 Of course, this was more entertaining to watch.  Especially watching "someone" act out Regis as Ronald Reagan. :)

 Lots of hangin' out .....(wow that pic is just too close!)

Blowing up the pedicure pool!

The girls LOVED doing glitter toes!!

 Of course...we had to have this COMPETITION.....

 Who do you think won??... Your's truly!

That's totally not something to be proud of here, but hey...we all know I have a big mouth!

13 marshmallow fit in there. 

to be exact.

This day ended camp for our lovely crew.  We look great after 4 days of no showering...right? :)

It was a fabulous month of July!

But now, I need a NAP! (that post took WAY too long.)