July: Just second to Christmas

Yes my friends, I now consider the entire month of July to be one big fat holiday! Why, you ask? Because I live in Utah where there's things like INCREDIBLE FIREWORKS (which I didn't take pics of), RODEOS, PARADES, PATRIOTISM, FAIRS, FAMILY FUN, and some decent summer weather.

Oh, and one minor note - I made my 25 mile journey to Old Navy yesterday only to find out when I got there that it was CLOSED because of Pioneer Day!! I'm so glad our LOYAL Utah natives celebrate their pioneer heritage............. unless it interferes with my clothes shopping. :)

Oh well. All is well, all is well.

So you may be asking yourself where this awesome skydiver is headed......

Only to the Spanish Fork Rodeo!!! - AKA THE BEST Rodeo known to mankind!

I loved every second of it and so did the rest of the gang including Jim's family, mine, and all the babies. You can't help but love that the rodeo begins with a Prayer and the National Anthem.

Plus, there's great music, some awesome muttin bustin' and a whole lotta' bull riding!
Oh, and for those of you who were in the Ocotillo Ward in Queen Creek....remember Matt Sherwood? Well, he was in the rodeo lassoing (sp?) calves. He's a world champion too!

Here were some of the rodeo attendants.

Dad & Mr. Serious.

Auntie Lyssa, Tyler, & Em.Auntie Jenna and Henry.
So glad all the family was there! It just wouldn't be as fun without them.

This last week, Jim's cousin Jami and her sweet mom, Jeana came to visit us. We, meaning all of Jim's family, met up at the park with them and enjoyed ourselves for a couple hours. So nice to see them!

(Above: Emmalee with Jeana. Below: My little teether.)
Notice the finger never leaves the mouth. This kid's been teething his whole life.
Just a few of the cousins.

Mel, Katelynn, Jaxson, Braddock, & Del. The trick to keeping them seated? Candy.So what's next on the agenda?

It's the annual Spanish Fork Parade!

Woo Hoo!
Jack & Henry loved it. I know you can only see the back of their heads, but believe me, they're cute.

The best part of the parade was when the missionaries came marching onward ever so onward. I think that's when the crowds cheered the loudest. So nice to have so much support from the citizens. It's well-deserved.
Here's a couple of Emmalee just chillaxin. She loves the camera. I think she wants to eat it.

Hope you all had a great July!

June Happenings.

June was a fun and busy month. I'll try to keep this post as brief as possible, so here it goes!

A couple of weeks ago, me and a few friends went to the Utah Parade of Homes. Amazing! I don't know if they do Parade of Homes in Arizona, but let me tell you, it's pretty cool stuff. Basically, it's a tour of multi-million dollar homes in different cities that you can look at - either for purchase or just to look at. I took quite a handful of pictures of different rooms. Here's just a few of them.

This was a nursery. Loved the frames, the shelf, and the bench. Okay, so pretty much I loved the whole thing.

More of the nursery. Rock-a-bye baby on the treetops.........get it?
Here we have a spacious livingroom. One day I would love to have a grand piano with lots of pretty windows, but for now I'll just envy those who already do.
This month, I also got the chance to spend some time with my nieces Hallie & Livvi. They are hoots, let me tell ya! They came over one night to have a sleepover. One of the neighbor kids brought over his rooster and the girls got a kick out of it. Hallie wanted to wear Jim's hat and put the rooster on her head (????????????)

I, of course, then busted out the camera. Two Words: White trash.

I also just realized that I totally messed up with the coloring! Oh well, it adds to the white trashiness of the photo.

The next day, we headed to the park near my house and had a picnic. I bought Hallie and Livvi hamburgers, fries, and chicken tenders, but they ended up feeding all of it to the seagulls! Do any of you remember the part on Home Alone 2 where the bird lady throws the bird food at the bad guys and like thousands of doves come swarming in??? Well that's kind of what it was like.The last week of June was spent in Arizona. Jim's great grandma (the one who gives Jim piggy-back rides) celebrated her 85th birthday! It was a surprise party and BOY, was she surprised! She was told that she was going to be in a fashion show, so she got all sassed up for the occassion. Sorry grandma, no fashion show.

We spent much of our vacation in the swimming pool. You really have no other choice when the weather is 117 degrees! Braddock went from only putting his toes in to jumping off the rock wall and going down the slide! Way to go, B-Rock!
The best part of this vacation was that we got to stay with my mom. I don't know what it is, but she and Emmalee have this strange bonding connection. Emmalee absolutely loved her! I just have to tell my mom how much I love her. She would do anything and everything for our family. It's been really hard to be away from her because the few times we do get to see her, the kids have a vague memory of who she is. This last time we saw her, however, Braddock finally started calling her "Nanna". We love you and miss you, mom. Thanks for being so patient and understanding. You are an amazing woman.

P.S. Braddock still says your name :)

Okay, the Wilhelm Family is going to kill me, but I had to post this picture. After not seeing them for 2 whole years, we finally reunited! I grew up with their daughter, Kirsty and we became best friends. It was good to catch up on each others lives and see the whole Wilhelm clan again. Love you guys!

Kirsty and I decided to take a really cheesy picture together. I'm not sure what is going on with my wrist, but I think we did a good job on the cheesy part.

Here's one of Jim and Emmalee. I heart them both.
Here's one of Jim and I. I think we had just gotten home from eating at Nielsens Frozen Custard for the 37th time. That's what happens when you don't have one in Utah.
This last Sunday, we went to Canyon View Park (10 min away from our house) with Jim's family. It was so nice to be able to relax after a 12 hour drive with screaming babies. Look at this view!
I took this picture at the park of Emmalee. She was having a hay-day with that blanket!