drive-ins and gettin' old

To celebrate our Pioneer heritage (July 24), last weekend we went with cousins to a drive-in. The cement was hot, the popcorn a-plenty, and the movies good. We didn't even mind the rain at midnight-ish since we all piled inside the van to finish the movie.
Here are the kids sacked out in the van at 1:15 a.m.











We also celebrated Jer's 40th birthday last weekend! When we were getting ready for the party, Griffin asked, "is 40 old?" :) We enjoyed our awesome families and friends with funny senses of humor.

Jeremy is an amazing man. He loves our children with all of his being and wants the best for them. He encourages them to be creative, to be good at sports and at school, and to read. Jeremy loves me and supports me in anything I think to try. He had some money set aside that he had worked hard for that he wanted to do something fun with. He chose to spend it on a piano for me. It's a beautiful baby grand, built in 1915, that needs to be striped and then stained. Not only is it hard earned money, it's a lot of work ahead. He takes care of our aging neighbors, attends all of his early morning meetings, speaks Spanish to our children, works tirelessly in the garden, and manages to keep up on current events. He keeps me grounded, reminds me to be keep things in perspective, and maintains a positive attitude through rough times. I feel so grateful that he is mine. He is an amazing man.

Jackson Hole & Yellowstone

The night before we left for the family reunion the kids had a late movie on the tramp. There's just something fun about watching a movie outside with your cousins late at night.

We enjoyed a few days in Jackson Hole for the Duane & Effie Wright family reunion. We rafted the Snake River (a scenic float and whitewater) and everyone had a great time. Because Griffin wanted to go down the whitewater I went along; I fell out of the boat at Big Kahuna (a first for me), and we all had a grand time. It was fun to spend time as a family and with cousins who we don't usually vacation with.














The kids became Junior Rangers at Teton National Park (this is them being sworn in) as well as Junior Rangers at Yellowstone. Zachary and Anna opted for the Young Scientist at Yellowstone which was pretty in depth--they got to time Old Faithful, take temperatures and measurements, and learn and hypothesize like real scientists.

We played at Kelly Warm Springs, Slide Lake, String Lake, went to the Jackson Hole Arts Festival, ate smores, saw Old Faithful and many bubbling, fabulous, smelly pots and geysers. We enjoyed our new (to us) tent trailer, seeing wildlife (what's Yellowstone without buffalo walking down the road?), and seeing family. It was a great week!

it's a...

BOY!!! We're happy to announce that our baby is due December 21!

father & sons = girls night out

One very important thing I forgot to include in the first bit of summer update...

The boys went to a father & sons overnighter (and had a great time! They shared their tent with some other boys from our ward and came home very dirty!) so us girls had a girls night out. We went to dinner and then Anna and Jane got their ears pierced!

This was Anna's reward for growing her fingernails out (instead of biting them). Anna asked on the way there if Jane could get her ears pierced, too. I thought quickly of what my position was, realized I had no good reason not to get Jane's done too, so they got to share this fun experience.

where does the time go?

I can't believe it's mid-July! I've posted the highlights from the last several weeks here. As a side note, I'm grateful for the flexibility of a blog. There's no deadline, no need to carefully review and edit text, and no need to post perfect pictures (even though the ones I post ARE perfect!). I'm just happy when my favorite people update their blogs so I know what's going on in their lives. Here's to the blog.

We had Rissy and Cassie come stay for a few days in June and had a great time. Zachary taught Rissy how to ride a 2-wheeler and we enjoyed racing in the church parking lot. We also took in a movie and stayed up late and had a fun time playing with cousins.

We went downtown to the Arts Festival and afterward went to the Gallivan Center to play in the water. Zachary especially had a great time and I like this picture.

Griffin got pretty wet, too. It was hot and a fun activity for us all.

























My brother, James, was home from California for the 4th of July. We went to West Point Days and saw fireworks, stayed up late, ate yummy food, celebrated Jeremy's birthday, and just had a very nice time. The kids sure enjoy hanging out with Uncle James.

Our Jones cousins are in town and we enjoyed spending a few days with them. The kids played in the water outside and just played and played. What a fun summer!