Happy 4th!

A little morning stroll up in the mountains.











And then back to the heat of the valley for a family BBQ (except that we opted for ice cream before our dinner--oh, and after too of course :)

Prepping for our fireworks show--I love Bentley's little pose here

The kids enjoyed the fancy fireworks from Nanny's lap

before they suddenly got too loud and a bit scary :)

I truly love America. And I love that we have a special holiday to celebrate its founding and our subsequent freedoms and opportunities. Today in Relief Society we sang the 3 verses of The Star Spangled Banner found in the hymn book. I could hardly make it through the first few lines without feeling overcome with emotion. I think I mainly cried through the song rather than singing it :) It is such a powerful anthem and I always love hearing it. But the words of the final verse really hit me today--especially because there's a certain Marine I kept thinking of:

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And Thursday

So the pillow fun continued on and on. I am a silly aunt but I got a huge kick out of getting just the right shot of these boys (and they loved checking out their still shots too :)

Coloring out on the deck with the warm summer air and gorgeous mountain views

All gussied up for the Oakley Rodeo

Crazy Cowboy Bean

stylin' cousins

Cares was beyond tired and still a very sweet girl by the end of night. She just needed a cuddly grandma to rest on.

Somehow Bentley was going strong --all the way through the fireworks show at the very end :)

And Maddie was too!

Thanks mom and dad for taking us to the rodeo (and for sharing your sweet cabin with us too!)

Wednesday at the Cabin

All packed up in Cec's car and ready to go! (oh, except for the fact that I forgot the kids' bag at home--left it in my way so I would have to step over it several times while loading other things and thus surely remember it...duh. No worries--Joseph rescued it and brought it up when he and Chad came up after work)

Playing in the huge bunk room (kids played--moms laid on the beds and rested/watched the craziness)

Will launching into the pillow pile

and Ethan's turn (sorry about the blurry pics--I needed more light...)

3 little cousins in the huge tub. How are my kids so fair compared to the brown Maddie Jane?!

IKEA

Yesterday we spent the morning at IKEA shopping for toddler beds that can be used up at my parent's new cabin. Bentley, Maddie and Caroline had a jolly old time testing them out:

such a faker...

Maddie loved this bed and "tested" it out for about 20 mins

of course Cares found a puppy to cuddle with

oh--my sleeping babes...

"helping" Grandma Bobbi find the right aisle

June Playdate

How is it already the last day of June? This summer is flying right by.

Last week, cousins Sisi and Kai (with their mama of course) came over to our house for a picnic lunch and some water fun outside. Here are my only good pics--it gets pretty tricky photographing such busy kids... Thanks for coming over to play Krista!

In My Opinion

Sometimes I think that people really want to hear what I have to say. OK, I retract that and in place of it say that usually I think that people really want to hear what I have to say. Thanks goodness for blogging and getting it out of my system right? Anyway, I would just LOVE to be a judge on SYTYCD. Wouldn't that be so fulfilling to share your opinion on all those dances and dancers with the whole world (or, just the several million people who watch?) Maybe it's just me but I feel like I have so much to say about every piece! And I would never, ever use the word "routine" because it is for gymnasts and cheerleaders solely and certainly NOT for real dancing. Sheesh--why doesn't Nigel know that already?! I squirm every time they use it. I can be such an elitist!

Well, I could go on and on, but for now I want to say that last night's show was really good. It started out very strong, then the middle kind of bored me...for a while, and then the ending was like the perfect 4th of July fireworks show (see, I already have my kitschy "judge-like" comparisons all figured out :) Honestly, those last 2 pieces of the show were stellar. I loved them both and had to watch them over and over before I felt like I'd had my fill. I am rooting for Chelsea and Mark because Chelsea is really the only girl I love to watch. And she and Mark are just on fire when they dance together--they really have such solid commitment to their movement as well as a passionate connection to each other. And then there are my fave boys: Twitch, Will and Joshua. There is something so sexy about a man who is strong and tough and an awesome hip-hop dancer but also a graceful, toned down and sincere mover in modern or ballroom choreography. I'm loving both sides to those boys in ALL that they have done so far. So yeah--these are my opinions. I feel much better after sharing them here with the world (or my 5 blog readers...)




and remember this one from the first episode? I heart Mia Michaels. I wish I could choreograph the way she does--my body simply yearns to move in the way these dancers do. I am feeling a serious urge to take a technique class...



Last of all, my predictions: I think that Thayne and Chelsea, Chris and Comfort, and Kortney and Matt will be in the bottom 3 (well, that's who I'd like to see in the bottom 3). I think Kortney and Matt will go home since they'd probably like to keep Comfort around since she is the only hip-hop girl on the show and the judges love Chelsea and want to give her one more shot. We'll see right?

Today I Love...

1) Dial's Yogurt Aloe Vera hand soap. We tried some at Cec's yesterday and loved the smell. Now we have our own!


2) Any and all sundresses on Caroline. She is such a busy little player and often outside so I like to pair them with leggings just to save her knees some grief. I wish I were 2 so I could wear her colorful, loose and sleeveless dresses too!


3) The fact that I have 2 1/2 months off of teaching. I feel like such a wimp when I only work one afternoon a week but I am happy to have the freedom and not worry about arranging a weekly babysitter for a while.


4)My new Shade swimsuit (in orchid).


5) Jason on The Bachelorette. I'm not sure if he's the best fit with Deanna and frankly, they probably won't end up together since Deanna is kind of, how can I say this, um, not my favorite girl to watch on TV. Anyway, after last night's episode, when Jason was hanging out with his small son, he melted my heart. Cute. I heart dads in general.


6) The song Lollipop by Mika. I would post the video but it is totally whacked out and random so I'll just add the link here. Take a quick listen if you don't already know it (it has been out for over a year). My kids beg me to play it on repeat as we drive around town because we all love the upbeat vibe and silly lyrics that are easy to sing along to, "say love, say love..."