We had a great Fourth of July. We sat on the golf course and took lots of pictures before the fireworks began.
First, my parents:
Glow sticks as earrings:
Dallas being extra patriotic with his blue shirt and red skin. Apparently he was outside all day at work and got a bit of a burn:
Eli watched the fireworks with only one eye:
Spencer cracked us up by saying “WOAH!” every time the fireworks went off:
Brooke’s birthday on June 3rd came and went and we were still living with my parents working constantly to fix up the new house. As we celebrated Brooke’s birthday with my parents we assured them that we’d for sure be out of their house by Caroline’s birthday on the 28th. Turns out renovating took much longer than anticipated and we were still in my parents’ house for Caroline’s special day.
I always put numbers up all over the house with the birthday kid’s new age. I like to take a picture of the birthday child by the number. Unfortunately Caroline wasn’t in the mood to cooperate. Grandpa tried to show Caroline how fun it was to stand by the three:
And so did Brooke (though she is quick to assure us she’s five, not three):
Spencer finished up dinner:
All the while Caroline threw a fit:
Chapstick was her first present and believe it or not, it was enough to make her crack a smile:
Sunglasses brought out her signature dimples:
Add new flip flops to the mix and we’ve got a happy girl again!
My Mom once again was in charge of the party and came through with another cute cake:
Happy birthday Caroline!
My brother Jacob and his family came out for a visit.
Natalie was a great baby tender and Spencer really did love her. I just snapped this picture right as he got fussy:
Spencer and Logan playing with the cars:
One morning I woke up and came downstairs to see all the kids cutting papers up and making projects:
My mom, my sister-in-law, and I went on an outing to the Church History Museum to see the Book of Mormon exhibit for kids. It was a fun outing. First we walked around the temple grounds:
Then we posed everyone in front of the exhibit:
Then the kids played!
Luke responded surprisingly well to Brooke’s orders to help her catch fish:
Spencer made it to the promised land!
Everyone tending the garden:
Spencer driving:
Brooke made a fort:
Then we had a picnic:
All the kids got creative with their Bugles:
Another day we visited Kangaroo Zoo:
We love when cousins come to visit!
We took Brooke and Caroline to a splash pad:
On the way back to our house we saw thick, black smoke billowing up into the sky. We realized we were witnessing the beginnings of a fire. We pulled off the freeway and had a perfect view of an abandoned house burning:
It was pretty fascinating to watch. We were there before the fire fighters even got there. We got to see all their trucks pull up and then watch as they used hoses and a crane to put out the fire. We saw on the news later that the police suspected arson.
Brooke’s birthday couldn’t have come at a worse time this year. We were living with my parents and were in the middle of spending every spare second renovating. Brooke had such grand ideas of the huge birthday party she wanted to have and I’m sorry to say that none of her wishes were fulfilled. I had been toying with the idea of just doing nothing for her birthday until we moved and then we’d throw her a party.
My mom thought that sounded like a horrible idea so she took matters into her own hands and planned a celebration for Brooke. I’m so glad she did. Brooke was thrilled with the extra attention.
Here’s the cute cake:
And the cute birthday girl:
And the cute sister and grandma who saved the day:
Presents!
