Crazy month of July

In July we had two family reunions up in Utah/S. Idaho...each was just two weeks apart. I couldn't decide which one to go to and which one to miss so I decided to just go to both and stay in Utah in between. Cody went back home and worked while the kids and I stayed and played around. It was fun to be able to do things and see people I usually don't have time to see. Plus Utah is the best place to spend the month of July-there is sooo much stuff going on all the time, I was glad my kids got to experience it!


Our first reunion was with my cousins on my dad's side of the family-it was held in Eden, Utah. Seriously it is a beautiful little mountain town, I would love to live in someday!



My cute Grandparents who are the reason we all exist. They are wonderful people and examples-I feel honored to be their grandaughter!



We stayed in a couple of townhomes up there and would have our big family meetings/meals on the grass in between the homes. One night Claire and I decided we needed to color while we were out there-I didn't know I was up against a former Montana coloring champ-I didn't stand a chance!

Layla and Grandma....Layla loves to work on her cowgirl skills



Daniel and Nate-



One of the nights of the reunion Harry Potter opened. Cody and I decided to pretend we were young and went to the showing with a bunch of my cousins. We were trying to look awake and excited-the movie was alright but the company was better.

More of the Harry Potter crew.

After the reunion we headed to Kamas. We went to the grand Fiesta Days Parade for the 24th....here is Marc looking like a true cowboy. I was so impressed by his ability to grow facial hair I had to take a picture.



The kids waiting for the candy to start flying at the parade. Parades are sooo much more exciting when candy in involved.




After the parade we went to Bull Wars. Max's first real rodeo. He loved it. This summer after spending time at both grandparents homes he has decided to become a cowboy. He makes a pretty cute one so I can't argue.



While at the rodeo, Max heard them announce that they had "kid games" the next day. It had to be the one thing he heard. So he begged me to take him up there. He thought he was going to be able to ride a bull, but different kinds of races were pretty much just as fun. Layla of course thought she had to run too...she is the little pink hat girl in the pack of kids.

Max running/cheating to try to keep his egg on  his spoon. At the end of each race they gave the kids a quarter which just added to the coolness of it all.

Layla is becomming such a little girl. She is obesses with clothes/dresses, and shoes and jewelery. She loved all of the new shoes grandma's closet had to offer.

Max trying on some fun glasses that they found. I think they used to be Joel's he has all kinds of weird dress ups from the good old high school days.

My mom and I went to Salt Lake one day to take the kids to the zoo-but for some reason it closed early that day. Instead we went across the stree to This is the Place State Park, it is a little pioneer comunity, and it was a lot of fun! They had a petting zoo, and then just a pioneer village set up for the kids to explore. In my opinion it was way better than the zoo! This is Max and Layla by the baby bunny....sooo cute, I now want one!

Layla trying to pet a baby goat.

Watching the blacksmith-who is my one complain about the day. He was SOOOO not friendly. You would think he would be teaching the kids about what he is doing and why but he just silently did he work while we watched, which I guess was fine!

Layla playing on the cute wooden train they have on the playground there. She is obsessed with choo choo trains lately so she was in heaven.



Panning for gold-Max found way more than I did-I don't have gold panning skills.



This is a replica of the ships that many of the immigrants who crossed the ocean would have used. Not quite a cruise-but Max thought it made a great pirate ship.

One of their favorite things was getting to ride the horses. I loved that my kids got to experience this-my goal for this summer was to de-cityize my kids as much as I could. This was a good day and place to do that!

Hanging out with Brigham and Joseph, after a long day.

Another day, while in Kamas we headed up the canyon for a picnic and some "fishing". For some reason the crazy forest service people didn't have the campground open we went to, which meant the bathrooms were not open. Max of course had some business to take care of and while squatting down to poop he accidently got his shorts wet too. It was tramatic for him-but luckily he was wearing his cool boxer/brief undies so he just got to hang out in them all day while he pretended to fish.



Layla decided it was best to fish while sitting in the lake.



Another day we went down to visit my sister and her boys...this is at the park-Layla and Benny hanging out....Layla looks like she has a future as a biker chick!

One of my family's favorite things to do at my parent's house is to go on walks out int he fields behind their house and down the banks of the canal. The grass we were walking through was almost as tall or taller than my kids. Soo cute-it brought back so many memories from my childhood-I can't imagine growing up in a better place!

There were a few "cow pies" along the way on our walk. Layla was scared of them and would scream when she got close. I guess she tromped right through one earlier this year while she was out with Grandpa and she quickly learned that they ruin your cute pink shoes.

After our two weeks of playing in Kamas we headed up to Paris, Idaho which is right by Bear Lake for a family reunion with my family on my mom's side. The place we stayed was neat. The lady had bought an entire store front and joined them together to make a huge place to say. It seriously felt like dorm rooms, with a big game room, theater room, and toy room. It was really cool-I wish I would have taken pictures of it. The kids of course loved Bear Lake-where we spent a couple of afternoons. Kids are just so happy and easy to watch at the beach!

This picture cracks me up-Max is obviously whining that the water is cold and Layla is just hanging from her dad's hand like the little monkey that she is. Awww my kids-I love them!

Layla just being a cutie on our long drive home. It was a good trip-a fun way to spend July....it is nice to be home now, but a part of me always seems to want to be in Utah. For now we just enjoy where we are at and try to make the  most of it!