July 2022

We had a fun 4th of July weekend.  We met up with family at the Riverton Fireworks.  They were such good fireworks and we were right underneath them.  It was fun to just hang out, listen to music and relax.  On the actual 4th we took the kids to see the new Minions movie.  That night we watched fireworks on our deck which we had never done before but it was actually kind of fun watching the valley light up all over the place.  And it was nice not going anywhere and fighting crowds for one night.

The next day we went down to Mt Pleasant with my entire family for 3 days and 2 nights.  We got this campsite reserved to ourselves and it was so fun.  We had a huge pavilion, fire pit, lake, grass area and each family got their own little cabin.  We played a lot of corn hole, kayaking, jumping off the diving platform and had so much fun.  I volunteered to be in charge of the food so it was kind of busy doing that but it wasn't too bad and everything turned out great.  I love how well we all get along as a family.

As soon as we got back from Mt Pleasant Jaron had his first soccer tournament, The Surf Invitational.  All the games were in Orem and it was so hot.  He played 4 games in less than 48 hours and ended up going to the finals but they lost in the finals.  He was still excited to be part of a tournament and he still got a medal so all was good.  

That night after the soccer final, I took the girls to the Draper Rodeo with Jennifer.  They love the rodeo and I love that they dress up for the rodeo and looked so cute.  It ended up being a little cloudy so it wasn't as hot as we had thought it was going to be.  Rodeos are always so fun.

I took the kids to the Tracy Aviary.  We hadn't been for a few years and it was raining the morning we decided to go but we still went.  It poured on the way there but only rained for about 20 minutes after we got there so it was a nice morning.  We felt so lucky because they hadn't been having their bird show since Covid and the day we got there they were doing dress rehearsals for their first bird show since Covid.  They were only letting a few people in as to not scare the birds and we were lucky to get front row seats.  We all got to participate during different parts of the show and Aria even got to hold a new bird to the show, a burrowing owl.  It was a fun morning.

The kids always beg to do Lemonade stands and I let them do one a summer.  So Sunday we baked all the goods and got everything ready and Monday was their annual lemonade stand.  Grandma and Grandpa were their biggest customers but they ended up selling out of most of their stuff and always have a fun time selling and making some money.

One thing I don't have a picture of but has taken up the most time this summer is the kids bought themselves a Nintendo Switch.  They've been wanting a gaming system for a long time and we've always said no but we finally gave in along with some rules and limits.  One thing was they bought the system themselves.  And they bought the extra remotes and the games they wanted.  So I was glad they could earn money and spend it on something they really wanted.

7-11 free slurpee day finally came back this year since covid.  It's always fun to do something again after having a 2 year break and this was a fun little activity.  We also took the kids to Lucky's, another sno cone place and they serve the hugest sno cones! This was the kids size!

Part of the kids summer to do list was to sleep on the balcony one night.   So they did it.  They were so excited getting everything set up and ready.  I didn't think they would last night and they did come in early in the morning but they all slept out there most the night and had a fun time.

I don't document this very often but we checked the twins to see who was taller.  Aria has been taller for the last little while but it looks like Siena and passed her up for now.  They seem to go back and forth, I guess it depends on who is on a growing streak.  We'll see how it ends up in the long run.

We had our annual 24th of July ward breakfast and the kids still like participating in the bike parade so of course I have to capture a picture each year.

I've always wanted to hike Stewart Falls and never have so we decided to do it this year.  It's actually a pretty long hike, 2 miles each way but the falls were very pretty and I was glad we did it.  Aria and Jaron got all wet standing so close to it and Siena, who is very vocal about her dislike of hiking did pretty well despite the complaining.

Here's a quick picture to show you one of the reason I love where we live.  Shane and I were on a night walk and saw and heard this owl.  It flew to the top of 3 houses and it was so pretty to watch.

After the fun time we had on the kayaks at Mt Pleasant, Shane searched on KSL and found a great deal on 2 kayaks for sale and so we got them.  The kids have fun on them and they're small enough they fit into our van to transport.  This was at the small Highland Glen lake right by Lone Peak HS.

And that wraps up a busy July month for us.  It was also Jaron's birthday but that will be it's own post.

Jaron turns 9!

Jaron turned 9 this year!  Jaron is really living his best life right now.  He gets his morning chores, piano, reading, etc. done and then is off to find friends to play with.  We often don't see him for the rest of the day until I track him down and tell him to come home and eat dinner.  He has lots of friends in the neighborhood.  He still spends most of the time with his friend Graham.  He's also spent a lot of time with Parker, Aiden and Lincoln.

His true love though is still soccer.  He gets sad if his practices get cancelled, always looking for someone to play with him.  His favorite thing to do with me is play penalty kicks.  This is where we take a rubber ball (like the cheap ones from walmart) and I throw it at him as hard as I can and he tries to block it.  If it's not that we're bouncing it back and forth to each other seeing how many times we can go back and forth without it dropping, or just playing catch.  He loves those balls and is constantly kicking it around.

For his birthday we hung out in the morning playing with his new soccer goal and his friend Graham came over for a while.  That afternoon we went bowling and to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner.  We were going to go kayaking with the new kayaks we had gotten but a storm blew in and so we just came home and watched a movie and went kayaking the next day.

On Sunday we celebrated all the July birthdays at Grandma and Grandpa's house as is tradition.

The following Monday we had his birthday party.  This year we decided to just take a few friends and go to Splash Summit for the afternoon.  He took, Graham, Lincoln and Aiden and it was such a fun afternoon. Then we stopped by In-N-Out for dinner.  Low key compared to other years but it was fun and the boys all had a great time.

Jaron is such a sweetheart most of the time.  He loves to snuggle with me, will do things I ask him to do and is very obedient.  He does have a hard time being the youngest and the only boy so he does get frustrated pretty easily when things don't go his way but overall he is a happy, good kid who tries his best in everything he does.

We love you Jaron!