July

I love the 4th of July. I love mostly being with family, but I do love celebrating the freedoms of our country.  Every year we go to the parade--it is the best 4th of July parade out there--they throw out a ton of candy.  Aliyah didn't quite catch on to the fact that they were throwing candy. She just enjoyed sitting in her little chair, watching people pass by and clapping for each of them! I'm afraid of what she will realize next year!! 

We had a BBQ at my parents house and were able to stay for most of the day before heading to Salt Lake to be with Dave's family. We did a few of our own fireworks and then watched the Sugar House Fireworks. 

The other eventful thing in July was our big family reunion to San Diego. We got to have two of our nieces drive in the car with us.  It went really quite well..and Aliyah loved it.

As soon as we got there we took a break at the pool.  Here's Aliyah playing with her cousin.

One night the hotel had smores--they were a hit with Aliyah and with all of us.

Our days consisted of swimming in the morning...

quick lunch in our room...

and out to the beach in the afternoon.

Here's our cousin teaching Aliyah to play the Ukelele.

Playing on the beach

 And sitting and enjoying the sun.

Another night we left all the kids at the hotel and did sealings at the San Diego Temple.  It was pretty neat to have us all together in the temple again.  The last time was when Dave and I got married over 5 years ago.

And another night we did family pictures.  I love this big family of mine!

 All of the cousins...

It was a wonderful vacation. I'm pretty sure that we annoyed a number of people there as we went everywhere in a huge group!  We sure did have fun though.

The drive home was a little bit harder, needing a few more breaks, but fun never the less. Grateful for the stickers we got at an In-N-Out to keep Aliyah entertained!

Ragnar

In the beginning...

Dave and his sister and brother and a few cousins started the drive up to Logan...

They anxiously waited to start...

After a few runs and a late night, they took a little break for food and "rest".

 Here's Dave running his last leg!

And the whole crew!  They all did amazing. 

Dave's Birthday

Since Dave and I have birthdays one day following the next, we take turns planning the celebration. It worked perfectly that I was on to schedule this year--which happened to be when he turned 30!  So I thought I would go big.  It took me a while to figure out what I would do…but then it hit me!  Dave LOVES basketball and I love to surprise people and so it began…

I wrote him 6 notes, each note a clue in words and with a picture of where he would need to find his present and the next clue.  Here's the first picture:

So we went to the trunk.  I had a picnic dinner there and the next clue of where we would eat.

To the park we went. 

After eating I gave him his present (frisbee golf disc) and the next clue.

Off to the movie theater! Here I gave him a fake present of movie tickets to throw him off of what I really had planned!  Next clue?

Walmart, where he got to pick out a tool that he needed. Next...

In his briefcase he found a technology accessory with the next clue.

Dave quickly got this…off to the church gym. 

I was a bit nervous about people showing up and on time and Dave being surprised, etc. Here's the invitation I sent out to our family and friends.

But all turned out beautifully--thanks to our dear friends who helped put things in order while I was away.

                   

 

So as we were walking over to the church, Dave was trying to hurry because we had the "movie" to get to.  We walked in to the church, Dave opened the door to the gym where it was dark. But he saw that there were people inside and almost walked out because he thought we were interrupting something. But then the lights turned on and everyone yelled surprise! It was perfect.

Dave had no idea!

                  

Here's a picture of my dad giving me a high-five over the victorious surprise!

 and then of course there was basketball playing.

It was a wonderful day even. I love Dave and all that he is. It was so fun to plan this for Dave.  But I was so grateful for all the support from family and friends.

The Zoo

This was Aliyah's first experience with Hogle Zoo.  School had finished for the year so Dave took a Friday off and we made a day of it.  The Zoo is so much better with kids.  It was so fun to see Aliyah experience seeing these animals in real life--not just a cartoon!  

We went to the bird show.  Which she loved.  There was one bird that flew RIGHT over our heads and whether we felt the birds wings/tail or just the wind from them flapping it was close.  Aliyah put her hand to her head and couldn't figure out what had happened.  It was a fun show.

One of the highlights for Aliyah was the Carousel ride.  She wanted the bear but the bison would do--and it was on the outside for optimal picture taking!  She loved every minute of it.  

And she cried and cried when she had to get off.  

The other highlight was one of the buildings that had animals in it.  She was completely fascinated by the orange monkeys and the birds.  

Aliyah working on her apple...

just like the giraffe and his leaves.

They had a number of lego exhibits throughout the zoo.  These were "face boards" were also built of legos.  As you can see she loved the orange monkeys...

but not the gray ones as much!

We loved the zoo and we loved being together.   When we ask Aliyah what she saw at the zoo she says, "We saw elephants, and....fish."

Nothing better than being with family!