24th of July

We had a BBQ at our friends' Leo and Annette's home for the 24th of July. This is the second or third year that we've al spent the 24th of July together. I guess it is becoming a tradition. We visited. The kids ran and played. We ate tons of good food. Then we had a firework show. Great fun.



Somehow the boys all matched, even though they are from 3 different families. :)

Parkview Get Together

One of the teachers that used to work at Parkview now lives in Mexico. She comes to visit each summer, and we usually have a get together so we can all see her and see each other. (Many of us still work at Parkview, but quite a few have transferred or retired in the past 7 years.) This year, I offered to host. So we had the get together in my backyard on Tuesday.

(On Monday, I cleaned all the carpets, cleaned the house and did grocery shopping. I worked so hard all day long. Alfredo said we should have company over more often. Ha Ha. We actually do have company over quite often. And I clean the carpets every June or July...but this did motivate me to get it done.)

We had a BBQ and everyone brought food to share. It was so fun to visit...and the kids played so well together. They had fun on the zipline and the teeter totter and the trampoline in our backyard.

Scoshi brought her plasma cars and two other cars to ride on (can't remember what they are called). The kids had a blast riding them and racing them.


Actually the adults had fun riding and racing them too.


I have and have had a lot of great coworkers over the past 15 years. It was fun to visit with some of the great teachers that I have worked with in the past 8-9 years. I have great colleagues! I'm very blessed.

That same evening my neighborhood had a block party at the cul de sac of my street. I didn't go since we had this get together, but I did wander down near the end to witness fireworks. They put on a pretty good show. I have a great neighborhood! I am so blessed.

The Great Outdoors

One thing I'd like to be better at as a mom is getting my kids out into nature. They spend lots of time in the backyard/front yard and neighbor's houses. They are pretty active. But we're not campers (I like it but am inexperienced...Alfredo doesn't like it. I'd love to go but I don't feel confident to plan a camping trip on my own... so we don't go.) And when I am planning activities for my kids and I, hiking and other outdoor activities rarely come to my mind. But I know that there have been lots of times when I have felt the spirit, felt comforted, felt gratitude or felt peace when I was outside. I want my children to appreciate the beauty of the world their Father created for them. So last week, I decided that we would head up into the canyon after violin lessons. We drove around for awhile, just appreciating the beauty and the fresh air. Then we parked, and played in the river for awhile. We laughed, we enjoyed the gorgeous weather and enjoyed the time together. We need to do it more often.

Happenings

Here are some of the things we've done in the past two weeks:

Friday, July 12 we went to see Mercy River at the Concert in the Park at Brigham Young Park downtown. I really like Mercy River. It was a bit sunny when we first got there, but soon the sun went down a bit and the weather was nice and we had good seats and it was fun. They sang several songs that we know and love including "Better than a Hallelujah" and "It Might Be Hope" and "Beautiful for Me" (my favorite song of theirs). They also sang a series of Princess songs. (Before singing them they talked about how being a princess is okay. Because we are princesses, daughters of a King. I know many moms don't encourage their kids to dress up as princesses or watch princess movies...and I can understand their perspective. But I think dreaming of happy endings and pretending to be a princess is fun. I think the example I set far outweighs any negative impact of princess movies. But that's just my take on it...) They also sang a fun song set to "Do You Hear What I Hear?" that was a "mom" song...it talked about a baby crying and she's sure it's saying "daddy" and do you see what I see...legos and books and toys all over, and do you know what I know... all from a mom perspective. Super funny. It was Michelle's favorite. It was a great concert...fun and the spirit was there and great to spend time as a family. I loved how they shared the inspiration for several of their songs. I especially enjoyed hearing about the video they made of "It Might Be Hope" for Primary Children's Hospital. You may enjoy the video.They are performing at Murray Park on Aug. 9 and I think we may go again.


We've had the chance to babysit for two dear friends, both of whom have newborns. One night we had my friend Jami's darling daughter and newborn son. Gabby and her friend had a great time playing with playdough. Then they played dress up. I enjoyed watching them play, and I loved holding that sweet baby boy.
Another day we had my friend's three cute boys. The two older boys enjoyed the zipline. I enjoyed cuddling the newborn. We also had a fun water fight. Such cute little guys.

We went to the dentist, and Gabby did great. She usually is a bit scared, but she was a champ this time. And no cavities for any of the girls! Yahoo.

On Monday, July 15, we went to a magic show at the West Valley Library. The magician talked about the magic of reading and related many of his tricks to children's books he'd read. The girls laughed and really enjoyed the show.

Michelle has been hard at work practicing her fiddling. She has her concert in August. She has a private lesson on Monday mornings and most weeks she's also had a group lesson on Thursday mornings.

I've been going 2-3 days each week to meet some other ladies at the church and exercise. We do Insanity workouts. It's been good for me.

We've gone to 7 Peaks several times, including one trip with Carey McAfee and her kids. We met at the Provo 7 Peaks and spent the day. Super fun. The older two girls also had a sleepover at their house last week.

We're reading books, practicing math (sometimes), going to the library every other week, and probably using electronics more than we should. The girls also spend time playing with friends nearly every day. It has been a great summer, so far. I'm sad that the summer will be coming to an end so soon.

But the summer isn't over yet! We've got some great things planned these next couple of weeks. :)