Another Party!

 

 

We had another Party on Saturday night to celebrate all the July and August birthdays! It was so much fun. We had so much good food I think I will be full until next year! After Patrick and Garret put on an awesome firworks show! We celebrated Scott, Garret, Dyllan, Maddie, Benton, and G.K. 

It Takes A Village!

Last Wednesday Juli was in town and we decided to take the kids to 7 Peaks.  Juli's M.I.L. Kathy was able to come too and Taya and Seth. Kathy was so much fun to have there. G.K. just loved her! Kaycee was really cute with him too. I forget what a big girl she is. Both Kaycee and Jackson are really good swimmers. We all loved the wave pool and the lazy river. It was fun to play with the big kids while Kathy and G.K. played. I think he mostly pushed his stroller around and around. I wanted to stay later but we had big plans of getting ready for G.K.'s big party!!

Patrick hasn't liked our deck for a while and we've gone back and forth with fixing it up or pouring concrete.. Well the day before the party we got our concrete poured! So needless to say we needed some serious help! Brandon came and helped Patrick load up a ton of dirt and Jenn was so sweet and made us dinner (we don't deserve them at all!!). I needed some help decorating cupcakes which I hadn't even made all of them yet, but Jenn was really patient with me. Vickie also helped me with my first real cake!! I was so nervous and I really think it would be fun to take some classes. It was so hard to get the color just right. Did you know the color brown is almost impossible to make. Unless of course you don't want brown! Brandon (who owns a painting company.. he deals with colors a lot!) got on the computer and found out about Cocoa powder!! If you only knew how long it took all 5 of us to figure that out!!

 

On Wednesday it was my big boys birthday!! I really can't believe he's one! This last year has flown by. We had a lot to do and I had to run downtown to get my packet for the 24th DesNews marathon. We met Kathy, Juli, Kaycee, and Jackson at the old Delta Center and Kathy got G.K. a cute Jazz ball that he loves to chew on! I thought they would have a cool expo but they didn't so we met Gerald and went to lunch at Crown Burger. G.K. really liked Crown burger, their fries are really good! I let him push his stroller around the parking lot before we headed home.

 

When I got home I had so much to do! Vickie and Lyndsey came early to help me set up. Patrick was upset because he couldn't get any sod for where the machines had ripped up our grass (this maked 4 times we'll have put down sod in our back yard :>) We tried to get G.K. to take a nap but he knew there was something going on so he wasn't having it at all

Okay so I really didn't think about his party.. I had it at 5:30 on the hottest day of the year!! It was blazing hot! So we had the "Hillbilly Hot Tub" up and running. We had a bouncy house and some tunnels. The best thing was the shade. I didn't want to get out from under it! G.K. wasn't quite himself because he was kinda tired but he warmed up after a minute

There were a lot of people there. We were so glad that so many people care about our little guy! He got so spoiled with presents!! We really just wanted to throw a party for him. The first time we went to Hawaii our kayak tour guide told us that for the first birthday they throw a big luau for the baby and people don't bring presents they just surround them with people that love them. That was the idea..

I knew better!! We all sang Happy Birthday to Garrison and he didn't really touch the cake. so Patrick told me to show him how to dig in... Well he got the hint! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!  Amidst all the hustle and bustle I forgot that we had tons of candy for all the kids and leis for everyone and a veggie tray.  We had such a great time though. We feel so blessed to have this little guy. 

If I Ran The Zoo

 

My adorable Sister in Law invited us to go to the zoo with them! G.K. thinks he owns the zoo with how he was walking all over. I love that he is walking now! (And it helps I remembered his shoes ;) We got to see the bird show and it is so fun! The owl hit Dyllan and I with his wings. G.K. fell on his head and got a little owie!

 The carousel is so fun. Dyllan bought this sprayer with his birthday money. He really wanted to spray my hair. I kept telling him not to because it was straight. I should have put it up and let him though. Those things feel pretty good! We had So much fun. We got to see the baby snow leopard and we found out that not only is the elephant pregnant but the giraffe is too! My favorite part of the zoo is the ice cream though!

 

 

Look how big my baby is!! 

YuM

 

Family Reunion

 

Patrick's Mom's Family reunion was just up American Fork Canyon this year. We had planned on camping up there but we forgot to find a babysitter for D'Ohgee (even though we could have taken her with us) and Lyndsey was having a little family reunion party of her own and we didn't want to miss that! So we just woke up early on Saturday and spent the whole day up there. We got there before everyone was awake to help cook breakfast. It is such a feast! We had hashbrowns, eggs, pancakes, bacon, and sausage. When we got there is was really cold but itstarted to heat up quick so after breakfast was all cleaned up we went to play some games.

 

We played volleyball, kickball, and duck duck squeeze/soak. It was really fun. It felt good to get a little wet. After the games we ate lunch and had free time. Patrick panned for gold and found a few flakes and then he played horse-shoes. 

 

The big deal the whole reunion was that Patrick's Uncle Reynold had every single one of his kids at the reunion. It was a total surprise. Some came from California to see him. There were a few that I hadn't ever met before and they are so nice! I hope I get to see them again. Patrick's Aunt Camille and two of her daughters watched G.K. so I could get in a couple of games of Nertz (love that game). He was So tired but I really think he was loving the pretty girls too much to fall asleep.

 

Before we left we had to share a marshmallow or two. we were such a mess. It was nice to be so close that we could just go up for the day.

Derby!

 

We took G.K. to his first Demolition Derby in Riverton. It was supposed to be last month but with all the rain they postponed it until now. It was so much fun! The cars were piles of crap! I thought the loud noises would bother Garrison but he wouldn't let me cover his ears at all. He loved every second of it. He only had a short nap all day and the derby went late but he was a trooper! Brandon got us cotton candy and Patrick almost got flip flopped mud on him but he dodged it! Can't wait until next year!

Temple Open House

 

On Saturday we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. Jenn and Brandon got tickets online and it was so beautiful. It was really fun to watch G.K. look at everything. He really loved it, his favorite things were the couch and all the chandeliers. The Temple was so pretty and it did have a more "homey" feel to it.. well at least in the lobby. A lot of the art work were pictures I'd never seen before, there was one with Jesus and a little boy I just loved! 

Fabulous Fourth!

Wow! We had quite the 4th weekend. Jenn and Brandon were SO nice to invite us up to Lewiston to celebrate the 4th with them in the "HomeTown" Way! We were able to use Brandon's parents pop-up trailer, so we hitched up the rig and were on our way to Lewiston Utah. (which is about 20 miles north of Logan ;>) The drive was great, G.K. slept the whole way. When we got there we got all set up and went for a tour of the Lewiston State Bank. It is really cool I think we need to set up a savings account for G.K. there. Then we hit the only store and bought some candy -not like we needed it. On the way back to Jenn's parents house Brandon and Patrick both got their hair cut from the "barber" he is the only one in town who cuts hair, and he sure cuts it. They came out better looking than when they went in, even Vaughn thought so! Then we played and Jenn's mom cooked some really good lasagna.  We had Trevor's birthday party. Trevor turned 3 and is so adorable! He loves farming.. farm tractors, farm animals, even farm poop! He had us "city folk" cracking up!

Then we woke up bright and early for the Lewiston 5k border fun run. It was a lot of fun (sorry no pictures I really should have taken my camera). After the guys went to the fireman's breakfast and Jenn and I went back to get ready. We headed out to the parade and Lewiston did not disappoint! They had some really cute ponies and lots of royalty but they had the most candy I've ever seen! Patrick had caught a frisbee and had to use it to block the candy that was being pelted at us! G.K. really liked the parade but he was plum-tuckered out! Towards the end of the parade I walked him to the end of the street and he was out cold!

But then it was time for the carnival! There were a lot of fun booths and a lot of the food smelled really yummy. Jenn got some cotton candy and Brandon took G.K. down the slide. Patrick's favorite was the fireman hosing off the crowd. It was warm but not that warm! 

Then we headed to Jenn's Aunt and Uncle's house which is the mecca for the 4th! For real there were so many fun attractions there (the potatoes were delish!) They had a pinata, 3 water/jump blow-up really big toys, 2 pools, water guns, and a lot more too! Brandon and Courtney got into a water fight with the boys and Brandon ended up with a black eye. 

We were all exhausted. I think everyone took a nap. Patrick, G.K., and I all slept for about 3 hours that afternoon. When we woke up everyone was playing on the swings and trampoline. You can see G.K.'s smile looks just like Patrick's!

We went to the softball game and saw how awesome everyone in Lewiston. Jenn's cousins Becca and Vanessa and they are really really good. It was fun to watch. Then we went back to Jenn's parents to watch the fireworks and it was awesome. G.K. really liked them too I thought he would be scared but he did fall asleep. Wow what a day! I love that his first 4th of July was in Lewiston!

 On Sunday we went to Sacrament meeting and then ate and left. We were so spoiled by Jenn's Mom CeCille, all weekend she fed us such good food. It was all so yummy I don't know how she does it. I feel like such a moocher but she and Anthony both were so hospitable. They are the salt of the earth. 

Dutch Oven Dinner

 

Every year Adrianne, Denise, Shawna, and I plan a dinner together. These are the girls that keep me out running even when I really don't want to go. They are such good friends. This time we planned a dutch oven dinner thanks to James and Adrienne. It was so yummy. They made bbq chicken, beans, and potatoes. Everyone brought stuff and there was way too much food. We went up American Fork Canyon and it was pretty busy! G.K. wasn't feeling great but the other kids kept him very entertained. I am so surprised more injuries don't happen when kids roast marshmallows. The kids also did a little serive project at our picinic spot, they shoveled out some steps in the mud. They really did a good job too. Samantha who is 5 told me some good ghost stories and we went and looked for bears! I had such a good time it was so nice to be in the mountains!

Movies!

 

 Last week Adam and Lyndsey moved into their new house. Patrick was helping a lot (I tried but there wasn't a lot I could do). So it was so nice to take a break and go to the drive in movies! It was so much fun. We ordered take out from The Old Spaghetti Factory, it comes complete with Spamoni ice cream! We saw Up and The Proposal. Now I was so tired but I had such a hot date that I couldn't sleep. I forgot how much fun it was except the bathroom line in between shows. There was even a line to wash your hands! I can't wait to go again!