My best friend growing up, Michelle Page, got married. She married the nicest guy. I was so happy I got to be there for it. She was married when I was on my mission and I missed it and she ended up getting divorced a couple years later. I'm so happy she found such a great guy!
Christy and family came to town so we did lots of fun cousin things. We went bowling with cousins and our annual dinner up the canyon.
Jaron used some of his points he earned this summer to go to a Summer League Jazz game with Shane.
4th of July was fun, we had our neighborhood parade (no breakfast this year) then spent the afternoon swimming at Whitney's parents house which was fun to watch all the cousins swim while we sat under the pergola talking. That evening we met up with Brigitte and family and played at the park for a while and then went to her sister's mother in law's house to watch Stadium of Fire fireworks.
The Saturday after the 4th of July we headed out of town. My parents rented a 4-plex for our entire family to go spend the week at the beach in Oceanside. We went a little early and spent the weekend in St. George and Las Vegas.
We can't forget our traditional pictures of Aria and Shane at the Aria hotel.
We had soooo much fun at the beach. We shared a condo with my parents and they all overlooked the ocean. We literally just hung out on the beach all day. The kids all played with each other and cousins and the adults sat under the shade talking, reading and eating. It was the perfect set up. At nights we took turns making dinner and then played games, walked to the pier for ice cream, etc. It was one of those super relaxing fun trips that we will always remember.
We can't forget all the swimming time we got in at our neighborhood pool. The kids have turned into such good swimmers and they love any time we can make an hour or so to get to the pool.
And last but certainly not least because besides going to the beach, I'm pretty sure this was the highlight of the kids summer. We got a pet Guinea Pig. They had been begging for a pet for so long. Aria had checked out so many books on all sorts of different animals and how to care for them. So I found this guinea pig in Riverton and for the guinea pig, cage, food and all the stuff he needed it was $20. He has ended up being the best little pet. The kids take turn cleaning his cage and play with him every day. If they ever start to ignore him or complain about cleaning up after him I just threaten to sell him again for $20 and they know I can and will. But seriously these kids LOVE this guinea pig. When we got him the previous owners had named him Rocket but the kids wanted to change it so they all agreed and came up with the name Gilbert. It's kind of cute I have to admit, Gilbert the guinea pig. We call him Gilbs for short. He's a hit with all the neighborhood kids and many parents text me after their kid has been over saying thanks a lot now my kid wants a guinea pig.
