The Fourth of July!

Phoenix and the Fourth of July don't mix very well.

But someone was renting my Grandpa's cabin up North, so we had to make the best of it.

We started the day at the ward pancake breakfast. Swam at Sharron's. Ate lunch at Smashburger. And then finished the night at the Tempe Fireworks which were crowded but really amazing. The kids loved every second.

The kids CRASHED on the way home... as it was close to 10pm and they had been active all day long.

We are so blessed to live in the United States of America!!

Fun with Tate!

Jeff and Michelle went to Hawaii for a week in July and we got to play with Tate for a few days! The kids absolutely LOVED having him around and we had so much fun together. He was super easy and ate and slept way better than my own kids. We were just sad we couldn't have him for longer! Grant and Tate are just darling together.

Here they are watching a dump truck video.  Grant was actually sitting on Tate's lap here and neither seemed to care.  It was so cute!  And the thrill on all their faces is priceless.

Reading books together.

Fun times at the Arizona Museum for Youth.

Bath time!!

Still enjoying summer!!

A few more random summer pictures.


Emma draws a "map" for me and I label the countries as she tells me their name.

Guess the Kentucky geography FAIL is hereditary.

The kids decided they wanted to swim in the pool ON the trampoline.  Haha.  All the water ran into the middle of the pool, but they had fun!!

Celebrating Grant's HALF birthday with HALF of a cake and 2 1/2 candles.  Both kids were so excited.  We did the same on Emma's half birthday 9 days later...

Grant's swim teacher contacted me and said that she would love to have Grant take an extra week of lessons at no cost to help his swimming skills.  She is pretty amazing like that.  He did improve, although still not completely swimming, he is actually moving his legs and arms, which is better than his stiff body from the previous weeks.

One of our darling babysitters, helped Emma make a count down calendar for Kindergarten!!  So cute!

Emma and her friends at Chuck E. Cheese.

Emma at Katie's birthday party at Tempe Splash Pad.

A Grant selfie.

And Emma selfies...

Uncle Glen visits Arizona!

We have been so blessed to have lots of fun visitors this summer!!

Glen came too visit us for a WEEK before he left for the Hill Cumorah Pageant work crew. We had such a great time with him! He was such a HUGE help with the kids and I've decided a live in nanny would be so amazing. He was kind and helpful and loads of fun. I wish he lived closer so that my kids could play with him more often, but we are grateful for the time with do have with him.

Here are the kids waiting for him at the airport.  They were both SO excited!

Emma even wore her Kentucky shirt to show him her Kentucky pride!

My little helper making cookies for the party.

Glen even survived a summer swim meet... which is a true test of family love.  They are hot and miserable and she swims for about 2 minutes total.  But, it meant the world to Emma that Glen would come, so he was happy to show his support.

For family night, we drove out to the new Gilbert Temple to show Glen and take pictures for Emma's primary challenge.  We are so excited to have another temple so close to us!  It has been really fun watching it be built and now Emma says this is where she wants to get married.  So cute.

Afterwards, we got some yummy shaved ice at Kealani's which Greg and I have been craving since we got back from Hawaii.  YUM.  It really does taste better when you are in Hawaii, but this was still really tasty.

Having a great time at Jump Street!

We had a great time enjoying a "stay cation" at the Arizona Grand Resort.  They have a great water park and nice rooms and it was lots of fun.

Emma had one of her worst tantrums EVER while at the resort and missed out on an entire day of swimming, which was a huge bummer for the whole family, but I believe in following through with consequences even if they are horrible for me as well.  Her behavior was much better the rest of our stay.

We played LOTS and LOTS of games with Uncle Glen.

And here he is at the airport getting ready to head out to the Hill Cumorah Pageant work crew.  What a handsome kid!!

The kids were SOOOOOOOO sad to see him go.  Emma cried and Grant called his name for DAYS after he left.

WE LOVE YOU GLEN!  Come back again soon!!!