4th of July. (A week late)

This 4th of July we live in Orem Ut. So we won't have the luxury of waking up and walking to the parade. What was fun was that my parents and the Browns were able to come up and enjoy the weekend. We also did something new this year. We (my mom, my kids, and me) woke up early and went down near Provo high, to watch the hot air balloons take off. The kids loved it! we kind-of followed the balloons, and then went home. From our house, we could still see the balloons so I took a few pictures:



Lauric, and Maley brought their parents up for a visit. So we were able to all enjoy the 4th together. (except for Sharley, the poor girl had to go to Washington, and New York)










Cute girls!!!


Off to the parade. We wanted to camp out and get a great spot for the parade, but by the time we were ready to go find a spot there wasn't a single spot left. So Saturday morning we went and parked at the Toiaivao's house, and walked up to University. We usually catch the parade on Center street, but this year we wanted to try something new. Ends up we got a really great spot, and we didn't even have to stare into the sun. Also we got rained on for a few minutes. It was perfect weather for a parade. One of my favorite parade groups are the bagpipes, and this one group had some pretty narley chicks in it.
After seeing a few bands go by, grandma asked max what instrument he would like to play. There was no response until he saw the men in Kilts, and that's when he replied: "That's what I wanna play." Funny kid.
Here's the kids: Lauric, Max, and Isabel. Max and Joe had matching flag heads (it's tradition.) Isabel never wants to be left out and so she gets the streaks on top.
Here's Joe enjoying a tootsie roll while watching the parade from grandma's lap. Luxury!
One of the kids favorit floats...Pirate island. It was pretty cool, they even had a Captian Jack Sparrow at the helm of the ship.
So after the parade, we came home, got babies to nap, and set up a little swimming pool we had borrowed from the Toiaivaos. It really was a little pool but we still had "big" fun. (tehe)
Here's Joe after his nap getting ready to go swimming.
Joe, and Max, pre-water:
After playing outside for quite some time, 8:00 rolled around, and it was time for..."the main event!"

My dad purchased some fireworks to light at the house, and the kids all loved sitting and watching the dazzling display of flames dancing on the asphalt.

First, a little sparkler action:

On to the main event...














Mesmerizing












By the end of fire works...Well, the pictures explain all:












What a long day. Hot air balloons, a massive parade, swimming, lots of food, and fireworks. What more could you ask for. Oh yeah, a nice comfy bed. :)

94 years and still kicking.

There are so many pictures, and so little time. Well I guess since it's Sunday there is plenty of time. I guess I should say so many pictures, and so little will power. This past few weeks have been busy! First off end of June we celebrated Reecy's grandma's 94th birthday. His Uncle Maurice was in town (his name-sake) It was really fun to see him and grandma. We also got to see a few of Reeces cousins, but I didn't get pictures of them.
Here's Reece, Grandma, and Uncle Maurice:
Max, and Great Grandma
Isabel, and Great Grandma
And here's little Joe, with some big ole' red gloves on. Don't ask.
Here's all of us (except the busy body) with Grandma.
(Notice how tiny Grandma is. Or rather how large my legs look next to hers, can we say GIANT?)
We're glad to have Grandma close to us, and are happy that we had the opportunity to visit with her on her 94th birthday. We hope to be able to celebrate with grandma as she continues to age beautifully. Happy Birthday Great Grandma!

Post 100!!! Wow a real mile stone.

Today we got to go to Cassius' 3rd birthday party. It was a B.B.Q. at the park. We had so much fun, and it was a beautiful day!

Cassius, the birthday boy...
Here's A.J. with the best hat display...After seeing A.J., Joseph decided he would like to try:









how does
this work???


The boys ran their guts out. (Poor Max ran so hard he puked)
Sweet princess girls...
And quite possibly my favorite photo of the day, our big boys with their b-day hats on.
(just glad it's b-day hats, and not b-day suits :)
Thanks to the Toiavao's who really know how to throw a party. We love hangin' out with all our friends!

"GOOD TIMES."

A garden, woo hoo!

Well today was the day. Yesterday on my way home from Basketball, I stopped by a local nursery, and picked up some starts. I was determined to "get er done" We had to weed a small area, but once it was clear we went at it. (Uncle Stan was a big helper)We planted fat tomato's, small tomato's, cucumber's, carrots, and green onions. We'll see how it goes. The kids had fun helping pull weeds, and watering. They will be most excited when we get some product. :)




Also while pulling weeds, we found a really cool dragon fly who appeared to be under the weather. He didn't fly away upon discovery so we let the kids hold him. The girls were a little nervous but still held it. Max was a champ, and held it long enough for me to get my camera.




(click on the picture,...the close up is amazing!)Fun day! Now it is storming outside, and our plans to attend "Sumer-fest" in Orem are spoiled. Oh well, we will find something else to do.

Hair cuts all around

Well, I had to put up the pictures of the boys new hair cuts. It makes them look so much older. Here's our little Joe...
Sweet handsome Max...


And every time we cut the boys hair Isabel is depressed because "she never gets to take a hair cut." So this time we didn't want her to feel left out. I took her into the bathroom before the boys, and trimmed her up. Then we used the blow-dryer, and flat-iron, and styled her hair all pretty. she was in heaven, and could not stop talking about her hair. What a cutie.
Oh my, can we say "poser!"
Then I just started taking goofy pictures. Here they are.

Josephine???


Enjoy!

Memorial day fun

For Memorial day this year we decided to drive up to my Parents house in New Harmony, and boy did we do lot's of fun things!





While there we had the chance to visit some family. Uncle Steven, (and family)
and my Aunt Missy. Both siblings of my mother. Here's missy, first time on a 4-wheeler.
Oh here's a fun picture of my dad and uncle about to go out hunting (turkey's)
We were also blessed with good weather, and a very warm swimming pool. My parents are so kind, and heated the pool up for the kids (and for me) I didn't get very many pictures of the kids in the pool because I was enjoying the sun :) but the 2 I did get are cute:

Another fun thing we got to do with my folks was called Harmony days. We went into town, and had all kinds of fun. The kids got to spit watermelon seeds, draw pictures tell stories, dance, run around, and have fun.

My mom was one of the women in charge of helping so she was busy running around, and selling raffle tickets.
(a raffle in which my Dad won two of the 6 prizes...hmmmm, interesting :) Here's my dad now holding Jo-Jo.
There was also a best pie contest, and a chili cook-off. My mom and I both made chili, and my aunt Missy got to help judge the pie contest. (No my cinncinasty did not win.)
I had to stick this picture in of Izy, because I love it.
And here's my gang, ...oh how I love my cute little family.

Here are some pictures from a little hike we went on with some folks from my parents ward in New Harmony. We hiked a little ways off the road to a fire pit that was used to turn limestone into powder.
Here's a shot of the pit... this angle doesn't show the depth of the pit but gives an idea of how they built it.
Here's grams and the kiddo's
Here they are again, my little hikers.
Oh man...king Maximus.
Besides hiking in N.H., we also went to Hurrican, or Toqueerville, or somewhere, and went on a rock hunt. Uncle Steven took us to this really cool place in the middle of nowhere, and helped us find some cool crystal looking stuff.
We met at the museum in the town where we took this opportunity to be pioneers for a minute:
We also hunted for petrified wood. Wow, what a view:
We ran into a bit of a problem with some very pesky nats, so we didn't get to stay for long, but it was beautiful!


Last but not least... who can forget the quads. Papa, and grandma are so nice to always let us ride their 4-wheelers. Max loves to ride, and he loves to be the big brother, and take Bell and Joe for rides.
Cute boys
Max is great on the quads, but he did have a little accident this trip. Luckily he was not badly injured, and he was wearing his helmet. Here's the wound...(He also had a bruise on his butt, but I don't think he would like me to post that picture :)!

Uh oh, here comes lil' Joe tryin' to be like his big bro.
Oh my goodness, have you ever fallen asleep while driving??? Well technically these kids aren't driving but....what??? how can you fall asleep in the back of the Rhino???
For real asleep...
Crazy kids!!! I guess after a long weekend of visiting, hiking, swimming, playing, laughing, and 4-wheeling, there's nothing left to do but sleep. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come and play.