The 5th of July

We didn't do much for the fourth of July this year. Joel didn't have work, so we caught up on a few things that needed done around the house and the yard. Jenna got back from Astronomy Camp on the fourth, as well. 

However, on the fifth of July we headed up to Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. It was a warm, sunny day. It would have been not too bad if it hadn't been for the bugs. Seriously, the mosquitoes, flies, and other nasty little flying things were ridiculous! We walked around for awhile, and the best part was seeing (and hearing) a red tailed hawk. We must have looked like goners, because it circled around us for awhile, probably waiting for us to die so it could pick our bones. :)

Joel and Adam (Adam was the only child willing to brave the bugs again) tried to do a little bit of fishing while we were there. It didn't last too long, as Joel said that Adam was getting eaten alive.

The better part of the day came next when we headed to Farson for a Big Cone! The ice cream cones were as big as I remember as a kid, and just as delicious!

Astronomy Camp

At the end of June/beginning of July Jenna got to go to Astronomy camp. She went last summer, as well, and was really excited to go again! They had family night one night, so I took the boys over. The plan was to go star-gaze with them and they could show us what they'd learned. As you can see in the picture of Jenna, the skies were not cooperating. We headed North of Rock Springs anyway, the kids set up the telescopes, and we waited to see if the clouds would clear when it got dark. Unfortunately the clouds didn't clear, and instead a big wind storm came upon us. They packed it up pretty quickly, and family night was a bit of a bust. But it was fun to see where and what they'd been doing, even if we didn't get to actually look at the stars.

Jenna decided to point one of the telescopes at me. I wonder how I looked in it? :)

Helper

Audrey really likes to "help" in the yard, so she got some of her own tools for her birthday. She used them well while she helped me trim up the bottom of the lilacs one morning. She's a great helper!

Audrey's Birthday!

Our baby is TWO!!! Aaahhhh! We can hardly believe it. Seriously.

I took a lot of pictures today, and I could barely narrow down which ones I wanted to post. I'm not sure Audrey really has any idea what it means when we keep telling her it's her birthday. But she did have fun opening her presents and eating her birthday cupcakes. Her favorite presents were, I think, the musical card from Grandma Flash, her little pink chair, and her very own water bottle. People who have been around Audrey lately will understand why she'd be so excited about her own water bottle. :)

Here are a few things about Audrey:

- She talks so much! We can't always tell what she says, but she's pretty good at communicating, and her vocabulary seems to grow every day.

- She loves shoes and will try on any and every shoe around.

- She always wants to have socks on. If she wakes up in the morning without sock and we try to get her to walk into the kitchen/dining room she will stop dead and yell "socks!"

- If I get her out of bed she usually says, "Hi Mom! Where Dad?" And if Joel gets her she says Hi to him and asks where I am. :)

- She's a climber! It's starting to drive us crazy, actually. She often totes around a small chair or box to use to step on and reach things or to climb up on things.

- She likes to play in water. In the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, wherever.

- She give excellent hugs and kisses.

- She always wants to sing "I Am a Child of God" and "Twinkle Stars" before she goes to bed or takes a nap.

- I don't think she has a favorite food. She eats most things quite well. Though she might favor slices of cheese, strawberries, and grapes.

Happy Birthday to our wonderful Audrey!

Parade

At the end of June Green River had Flaming Gorge Days. We really only took part in the parade, which was yesterday. It was a nice and sunny day, but it was a little windier than we would have liked. We found a nice spot on the parade route, and our kids had a great time collecting candy. Once Audrey got the hang of it, she was all over it. Joel helped her at first, but he basically just became her candy bag holder. Our older kids were really great with her, too. Helping her and making sure she got some candy, too. It was a fun parade.

Lovell

The day after Father's Day, the kids and I headed up to Lovell! Mary and her kids are up there while Logan is doing a class in Chicago for three weeks, so we decided to go spend some time with them and the rest of the fam up there. I got so few pictures, it's amazing I have any to post at all. James had just had a birthday before they came up, so we had a little birthday party for him. I snapped a picture of all the kids "helping" him open his presents. :)

We didn't do much in Lovell besides hang around, play games, etc. The kids spent a lot of time at the park, which is nice. One of the best parts was bedtime stories. Before the kids would go to bed, Grandma or Grandpa would tell a story about their parents or grandparents. I'm so glad I was able to record the stories they told while my kids were there.

Then, we all came back to Green River! Well, Mary and her kids came with us, anyway. The cousins were still having a lot of fun playing together, and I hadn't had enough sister time. The day after we got here we went to a Medieval Fair in town. The kids had fun doing archery and jousting.

The kids spent a lot of time playing outside, playing Wii, and generally making a lot of noise. :) Adrienne was also able to come up for a few days, so we got to hang out with her. We even got to go to a movie together, which was fun.

I had to take this picture of the kids eating caramel popcorn. We set that bowl on the table and told them they could eat it all, and it was like we'd called in the vultures. Aren't we teaching them such healthy habits?

Audrey seemed to have a favorite cousin. She followed him around giving him hugs and kisses. He was a good sport about it, but I think Isaac wondered why this little girl wouldn't leave him alone!

We're so thankful for the time we get to spend with family. And I'm thankful for the effort Mary and Adrienne took to come spend time at our home.

Garden

This is the first summer that Joel and I have done a garden since we got married. We have some built in raised beds/planters along our fence, so we decided to take advantage of those. We worked at pulling out the weeds and sifting out the larger rocks from the soil. Finally, right at the end of May, we planted. The first picture is of some tiny peas popping up. They were the first plant to come up, and we just thought they were beautiful. The second picture is of the peas a bit later, and a bit bigger. The peas are much bigger now, and doing very well. We also have carrots, radishes, lettuce, spinach, green beans, summer squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes. All doing well. We have some strawberries, but they seem to have suffered a bit from a June snow storm we got a couple of weeks ago. I hope they will be okay in the long run, though. It's been an exciting and rewarding experience, already. We've even eaten some radishes! The last picture is Joel with the first radish we pulled. It was a bit small (we were a bit impatient to try one), but very tasty!