July 2022

We have a fun tradition of going to the Symphony at Deer Valley compliments of my mother-in-law. It was a nice evening, and always nice to get into the mountains and away from reality. 

This year we got the date wrong and went to the wrong show, so the music isn't what we expected, but there was a beautiful sunset!

This Thomas is getting to be a good biker. I love it when my boys choose to go biking during our one on one morning time.

We met some friends at a splah pad and this is Lincoln's favorite thing to do at all playgrounds. Climb on the top of the play structures. And of course, Thomas is going to follow suit.

The 4th of July was another hit this year. The boys participated in the parade, and then the carnival after. The big celebration is certainly not what it was 5 or 6 years ago, but we still had cotton-candy and plenty of fun. 

I volunteered at the bean bag toss. Of course my boys got plenty of turns.

And we blew up plenty of the boys money with tiny fireworks. Fortunately, we have amazing friends who invited us over to their house. Thank you Hilterbrands! They let the boys be in charge of all the lighting and each and every one of them were on cloud 9. We were in a section of the city where fireworks were allowed, but there were very few going off. These traditions are continually changing.

My boys got super competitive in the water sponge relay...they get super competitive with most things.

Holly and I took a ride one morning to Tanner Flat in Bountiful

I offered to watch Khari one morning while Jodi was at work. It was Waffle Wednesday so I figured it'd be no problem. Lincoln took her for a scooter ride, and she cut up her foot pretty good. It was a bit comical, when I got to her, because she was playing with the blood from her foot and painting with it all over her leg.

This year, Waffle Wednesday has turned into game day for some of the kids. Which I totally love too!

Dean spent a lot of time in July fixing up his rental property. I tried to help out with some painting. Lincoln also volunteered to help for one of our one on one mornings.

We went on an amazing hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon. They boys have been begging to go backpacking, so I told them we needed to do some prep hikes. They did amazing! We went to Lake Mary and Lake Catherine and maybe Lake Martha...? They did such a great job, as it was a pretty moderate hike and we hiked over four miles. It was beautiful!

Mom, look how the lake sparkles!

Lunch time at Lake Mary

The best part was the snow ball fight!

Last time we were here, we were on skis. 

For one of Thomas' morning rides, I drove him up to the flagpole by the dog park and he got to ride his bike downhill all the way home. He likes downhill on the road, better than any mountain or uphill.

This is John. He is my amazing Brother in Law. The story behind this trophy breaks my heart. In short, I talked Dean into putting together a softball team. John agreed to play and the first time he was up to bat in the first game, he pulled his hamstring. It wasn't any hammy pull. He ended up in the hospital with a damaged sciatic nerve and probably won't have a fully functioning leg/foot for 2 years. His team made got him this trophy, and I've been overly impressed with his optimism through this!

Me and Oliver hiked Jack's Mountain for one of our early one-on-one days. He rocked it, as it was one very steep hike.

We made it to the top together!

And a lake day! Always so much fun. Even though they don't like to admit how much they love lakes, once we're there, it's all happiness! We went to Rockport with the Houskeepers and the Blackhursts.

A super fun rainstorm! These boys ran all over the neighborhood chasing rivers and playing in the rain, just like any kid should during a summer rainstorm!

Lincoln and I rode in Park City with our neighbors. He's getting to be a great rider!

The boys slept outside one night, and Ezra got a bloody nose. He came in and just held his face over these paper towels while he yelled for me. Love this kid!

Lincoln had a need to hold a baby. SO, as I usually do. When my child/this child has a need, I figure out a way to help him. We visited the Snow Baby. I didn't realize he had grown so much and is now 10 months. Not a super easy age to hold a baby and have them want to be held. :-/ And while we were there Karalee gave me a haircut.

I didn't take many pictures here, but we hit up another splash pad in Bountiful before going out to ice cream on Holly's dime. This is Peyton and her friend making tin foil boats to float in the river.

Just filling another summer day! We hit up South Davis Rec Center. I thought we'd stay for several hours, well we ended up staying all day long. From open to close, we were there.

As the sun was going down, a band started playing at the park on the other side of the fence from the rec center. When Ezra hears music, he just has to dance!

I rode the Wasatch Crest trail with Holly and Megan. It was the longest mountain bike ride I'd done up to this point. It was a long morning on the saddle, but was probably the most beautiful ride I've ever done. We started at the top of Guardsman's Pass and ended at the bottom of Millcreek Canyon. 

This was our least favorite part of the ride, but the view was still stunning!

The wildflowers were breathtaking and abundant!

One night we were walking home from Sugarhouse Park and there was this awesome sunset thanks to some wildfires. I told the boys it was Jupiter. For better or for worse, they all believed me. I had to come pretty quick, so I don't lose their trust.

In an effort to let Lincoln hold another baby, we met my niece Brynley and Will and their baby Lyla. Oliver got a shot, and did awesome with her! She was adorable, and this is about the only minute she didn't cry while we were there. 

Lincoln got a quick shot, but she was very fussy. 0 for 2 on the holding baby experiences for this kid. We're still working on finding a calm baby for him to hold.

Now they're off living in Virginia, so we may not see her again until she is walking.