Fourth of JULY!!!

I know everyone says it, but it really is such a wonderful blessing to live in a free country and I'm SO glad we got to celebrate that this past weekend.

We had the BEST 4th of July. I'm so glad we bit the bullet and decided to take the kids to see fireworks this year. So often we don't go because our kids aren't much of night owls (except for Ashlyn that is). But we figured if they had some friends to help entertain them, that they'd probably be able to last long enough for the show. So that's what we did. We met up with some good friends around 6 at a local park for a picnic dinner. The kids all ran around and played. And once it got dark, the fireworks show began. It was such a fun and relaxing evening and even though Leah and Brandon did get tired toward the end, they were good little troopers and still were able to enjoy the show.

I love this shot of Hyrum and Becky standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

The two little Ashlyn(n) buddies.

Oh my sweet little boy! I can't get enough of him and his smile.

Paul did a GREAT job at entertaining the kids with his IPad while we waited for the show to start. Thanks for being your usual wonderful self. I love you so much!

Tina and her Ashlynn.

I guess it was a banana break. haha...

Tina and Danny (and little Elijah). We love you guys!

Sweet Leah!

The older Brandon gets, the more he and Leah look like siblings.

It was a chilly night. Brrr.....Quite unusual for the 4th of July.

Watching the show. It was surprisingly good for not knowing anything about it. I think we'll make it our traditional spot.

The kids playing with some popper fireworks. I'm actually not too sad sparklers are banned in LA. Less worry for me.

Two cute girls showing off their matching jeans.

A special thanks to Tina for having a working camera that night. I owe ya girl!

Chilly but still fun

We went to the beach this morning. Left our house a little after nine. It was beautiful, sunny and looked quite promising. Got to the 14 & 5 interchange and saw IT. The JUNE GLOOM. I keep forgetting about that. The whole ride there was dark and drizzily. We got out of the car at the beach....BRRR.....but we were there and meeting up with some good friends, so we weren't gonna just turn around. Just should have dressed warmer. It DID eventually start to warm up...about the time we needed to leave. Oh well, it was still way worth the trip. And I think the kids still had fun.

We did a lot of this.

And this.

And Brandon, who was SO tired from the big night of fireworks the night before, even did some of this.

But eventually, the kids ventured out and did a bit of this.

But I continued to stay bundled up like this.

And so did this little girl.

Still made for some fun memories. I'm guessing it's pretty darn beautiful at the beach by now though. Next time, we'll go in the afternoon. Haha...

**Fireworks pictures to come. My battery died, so I'm dependent on wonderful Tina for all my photo memories. Good thing she always comes through.

I love this

Ashlyn loves to draw pictures. She draws at least one or two everyday and is very selective about what she wants to draw. Meaning, she puts a lot of thought into every picture. I particularly liked this one because she tried to think of each persons favorite color to dress them in and strategically placed them on the page. On the far left is her best friend Grace, who's favorite color is red (according to Ashlyn). She has long blonde hair and always has a bow in it (so says Ashlyn. And actually, she really does). Next is Ashlyn. A lot of her identity is around her curly red hair. Rightfully so, as she gets a lot of attention from it. After Ashlyn in the line up is her other best friend (and Leah's too) Ashlynn, who we lovingly call "the other Ashlynn". I guess Ashlyn thinks she likes pink best. Then of course, she always adds in her sister Leah, which makes me happy. They fight from time to time, but she always includes her in her list of best friends. And, I think there is probably a reason her and Leah are both in the same color dress.

Oh and incase you were wondering, this is a picture of her and her friends digging for buried treasure. They each have a shovel. Grace has dug up a pile of dirt and it looks like "the other Ashlynn" has hit the jackpot. Wonder what's inside?

Hmmm...

I sat down to blog tonight thinking surely I'm WAY behind. But no, I guess I haven't taken many pictures or something because even though I've been doing some fun summer stuff, I have no evidence of it. Shame on me.

So I will leave you tonight with this adorable picture of Leah sitting in the airport waiting for her plane to Iowa from a few weeks ago. Is this girl 4 or 14?

My kids

Seriously, how are they growing up so fast?

Last Disney days of the summer Part 2

After my "wonderful" ending at Disney the week before, I decided I had to go just ONE more time before my passes were blocked for the summer. But this time I got smart and called in a sitter for Brandon. Tina came with me and she left Elijah, so we split the cost of babysitting and neither one of us felt the pinch. It ended up being SO worth it, especially with me being 5 months pregnant and not feeling like I'm running on full steam these days. It's amazing how such a tiny growing thing can slow you down so much.

Anyway, we got there early, so the weather was still pretty cool. We even contemplated needing sweaters. Ha... Funny huh. Within in a hour, we were laughing at how ridiculous that then sounded, as it heated up quickly.

We again headed over to California Adventure and went on Monsters, Inc. Then we headed back to Bugs Land and went on every ride there. We bypassed the water play and tried for Toy Story, but the wait was TOO long and we didn't want to waste time. So we got on the Under Sea Carousel and then of course headed over to Disney to get on "It's a Small World". We squeezed in one more ride after that and then had to call it a day to get back to our little ones.

I have to admit, it was MUCH easier with out my little man. But boy what a sweet hug he gave me when I got home. It was weird having the girls without Brandon for so much of the day. Nice, but weird.

Well Disney, I will see you in the Fall for hopefully one more trip or two before baby brother gets here in November. Thanks for the fun times. Here's hoping my kids remember them.

Last Disney days of the summer Part 1

Last week I went with Becky to Disneyland for the day. We had a slight mix up with our passes at first, but LUCKILY got it all worked out and didn't have to go home after over an hour drive down there. First up, CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE. Becky told me I was missing out never having ventured over there. She was right. It was a fun place to be. We went directly to Toy Story Mania and then proceeded to wait about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get on it. So YES, it was a busy day. But since it was the first ride of the day, the kids tolerated the wait quite well and we all enjoyed the ride.

Then we headed over to Bugs Land where we instantly were shrunk down to the size of a bug. We went on a few fun little rides there and then changed the kids into swimsuits for some water play. Ashlyn had a blast. Her favorite part probably.....the cotton candy of course.

Brandon was a tired boy that day. Didn't want to play in the water. Instead he crashed in his stroller mid cheese stick. He didn't sleep that long (maybe 30 minutes), but it was enough to help him through most of the rest of the day. I say MOST because by the time we got over to Disney to go on "It's a Small World" he was DONE. I then made the mistake of pushing his limit and going on ONE LAST RIDE. Well, that was a big mistake. By the time we got to the car, my feet were killing me, he was a wreck and Becky and I were BEAT! Funny how a good day can all the sudden feel ruined when it ends badly. But overall, it was still a great day and I was glad we went.