The 24th of July Celebration

We woke up the day after Brynna's Birthday bright and early to go to the Spanish Fork Parade. Most of us enjoyed watching the parade with family and friends.

Thanks to Sheri for taking this picture of Don and I. We so rarely get a picture of the two of us.

Here is Brynna looking remarkably similar to the day before. When she woke up and put on the same dress I decided it was too early for a fight and let it go. When I asked her if I could fix her ponytail she said, "It's not a pony tail and you aren't touching it." Luckily I woke up with extra patience and let that go too. So here she is as beautiful as ever at the parade.

Jonah and Don, all smiles at the parade.

Here is Maleah at the parade. She is really not much of a morning girl.

After the parade some friends and I took our daughters to Primrose Retreat for a Royal Tea. They had finger sandwiches, fruit, and cupcakes, even Maleah couldn't help but smile.

Then there was face painting and more dress-up!

Here I finally got a picture of Maleah. Believe it or not Maleah will not pose very often. I don't have near as many pictures of her and Josh lately, but it is not for lack of trying.

Brynna and Miss Spanish Fork

Brynna posing with the rest of the Royalty.

I love this cute picture of Jonah's favorite friend, Sophie and Brynna. They were so cute in the matching cheetah dresses.

It was lots of fun, even though it felt like a bit of a repeat. We finished the day up with fireworks with friends. It was a fun celebration!

Brynna's First Lost Tooth

After Brynna put on her brand new Hannah Montana p.j.'s, she finished up her 6th birthday by pulling out her very first tooth. She was so excited to put it under her pillow she actually went to bed quite nicely.

She came down in the morning a little disgusted. She couldn't believe that the tooth fairy only left her $5.00. Maleah told her she has never gotten more than $2.00 and I explained that it was probably a birthday present from the tooth fairy. She still thinks the tooth fairy is cheap. I can't imagine what she will think the next time when she only brings her $1.00. I'm sure we will hear about it.

Brynna's Big 6th Birthday

Brynna's Birthday is the same week as Spanish Fork Fiesta Days and Pioneer Day, so it seems like a week long celebration. Monday we went to the carnival. Wednesday we had her birthday party with her friends and a family BBQ. Thursday we went to the parade and back to Primrose Retreat for a Royal Tea with the Spanish Fork Royalty. Thursday night we watched the fireworks with friends. By the end of the week we were all partied out.

But here is how it all began...

Happy Birthday, Sunshine! The day started out with new clothes from Mom and donuts from Dad, but that was just the beginning.

Then Grandfather brought her a new dress sent by Grammie, which she promptly put on. She got some new sunglasses from the Mom Store and pranced around most of the day and part of the next day like this.

She had a party at Primrose Retreat. They let the kids dress up, do their hair, nails and a little bit of make-up, mostly glitter, which Brynna loves. Brynna tried on almost everything there was and strutted down the cat-walk to have her picture taken. It was so much fun to see the girls different personalities come out. Some of the girls are a little more shy about it than others. I had trouble choosing which pictures to share so here are a bunch of them.

Brynna loved these fancy silver boots.

Maleah and Brynna in matching dresses. I think this was definitely their favorite dress.

This is Brynna's friend, Bailey. She really enjoyed posing for her picture to be taken.

Stella, Spencer & Kristy's daughter. She was so cute and a bit shy about the whole thing.

Maleah, finally getting a little more courage to come down the cat-walk.

Avery in the leather pants, loved them.

Sweet Sydney!

This is all the party girls. They were so cute and we had so much fun.

Here is the final fashion show. Sorry about the amateur videography.(if that is even a word)

After they got all beautiful they had a little tea party , complete with china, linens, pink hot chocolate and gourmet cupcakes.

Brynna didn't ever remove her sunglasses, even while opening presents.

We finished up the day with a family BBQ, more presents and more cake and ice cream. Brynna says her favorite thing to do is to go to Primrose.

Salem Pond

Salem Pond has been our favorite park to go to this year, so I figured I better take some pictures of all the fun we have had there.

This is Danielle (Dan's Daughter), Joshua, and Maleah. They were hunting for all sorts of gross creatures in the pond.

Danielle and Brynna floating away. The kids enjoyed floating way out on the tubes. It was a little scary since Danielle doesn't know how to swim, but everyone survived.

Brynna enjoyed playing in the sand and the water.

Jonah enjoys the playground. For some reason this day he started posing for pictures.

Here is a great shot of Heather. I think I caught her trying to say something :)

Jonah, posing again. He spends a lot of time in the stroller, and lots of snacking.

This was the first time we let Jonah in the water. He loved it!

Here I had to stop him from trying to drink the water. I think he managed to get one mouthful down. That cannot be good.

Swimming Lessons

The girls had another great year of swimming lessons. We decided that Joshua swims well enough that he doesn't have to take lessons anymore. Now Maleah thinks she should be done also, we shall see.

Maleah happy in the water as always.

Maleah loves jumping off the diving board.

Brynna has always been happy in the water. She loves diving for things.

Another happy picture!

Waiting in line for the diving board.

Floating with one of the teachers.

Our July 4th Celebration

We started our 4th of July Celebration at the parade in Mt. Pleasant. It is a fun, small town parade where they throw lots of candy. The kids love it!

Jonah, hot and not sure what to think. The noise didn't seem to bother him, but when he got hit with some water he bawled his head off.

Brynna & her cousin, Stella enjoying the parade.

Joshua & Garrett, they are just about too cool to be at a parade.

Maleah & Brynna, with Brighton in the background.

Next we had a picnic and went swimming at the pool in Fairview. It is at the bottom of the mountain from my parent's cabin.

Maleah enjoyed jumping off the diving board.

Jonah had to enjoy the kiddie pool, which is where all the kids with swim diapers had to swim. Jonah was a little timid at first, but then he got into it. On the video you can see him face planting right into the pool. There was an older guy watching and laughing his head off. He said, "That kid is going to be a football player. He is fearless!" If he only knew, he cries in the carwash.

There were other kids in the pool, but I think Jonah ran them all off with his splashing.

After swimming we went to the cabin for a BBQ, four-wheeler rides and a sleep-over.

Here is Don doing what he does best, anytime, anywhere.

He did wake up long enough to take the kids four-wheeling.

Jonah couldn't be happier than on the four-wheeler with his dad.

Maleah and Brynna are pretty happy also.

After a somewhat restless sleepover at the cabin this is what I woke up to

I got up as fast as I could, packed up and went home. Love ya, scary little Sis!

Cat Catastrophe

This Spring we had a bit of a Cat Catastrophe when our cat, Cali became pregnant. We ended up losing her and her 5 kittens causing me to start a list called, "All the things in life I never wanted to do, but got to do anyway." Helping a cat give birth to stillborn kittens currently resides at #2. Anyhow, because of all the cat trouble, not even including the time I ran over Cali, which she survived and I only had to carry her to and from the litter box for a week, Don is vehemently opposed to having a cat at all at this point. So when this cute little kitten showed up (thanks, Grammie) the kids were delighted and Don, not pleased. I couldn't help but take a few pictures of Jonah loving the kitty.

And what happened to the cute little kitty after the kids enjoyed it for a few days? I woke up one morning and the kitty was gone. I asked Don where the kitty was and he had no idea, but then Grammie called. She said there was a kitty just like the one she gave us in the parking lot at Gold's gym. The very gym that Don goes to every day. Luckily for the kitty there was a nice lady there that said her kids would love it and took it home. So, the mystery remains...We think the kitten climbed up in Don's car and climbed out at the gym, but for now it is only speculation. One thing that we know for sure, No more kitty's for this family!