We started off our summer with a bang! We received a special surprise visit from Bubby and Poppy. They were here on a field trip and were visiting one of our favorite place, Red Butte Gardens. We couldn't resist joining them.
The late spring/early summer colors were spectacular.
You would never know that Jake is Bubby's favorite.
Poppy and Miss Maggie. (and Jake)
This was Maggie's first trip to the gardens as a walker. She thought that the children's garden was made just for her.
Our next excitement of the summer was our first round of swimming lessons. This is a shot of Maggie waiting patiently for the kids to swim. She was dying to get in too. They weren't offering a mommy and baby class at this pool.
Here they are, the swimming graduates. Lydia will be doing another round of level two next week but Katie and Jake progressed to level three and level five. Way to go kids.
Jake spent three days at scout camp at the end of June. His Dad joined him for the one overnight. They had a grand time scouting it up. Jake loves scouts.
Just before the 4th of July we made a quick trip to St. George to visit Grandma and Grandpa Wells and attend a reunion with Grandma's family. The kids love to swim in Grandma's pool. Maggie had an especially good time in the pool. She is perfectly content to sit in her turtle and have people pull her around. The splashing and yelling of the other kids doesn't bother her at all.
Lydia has a new confidence in the pool this summer. She would rather not have her life jacket on but being that she is such a maniac, I feel safer with it on. Sorry Lydie.
We ran back to Cedar City for church on Sunday, Bubby had asked the kids to sing for her Relief Society lesson on patriotism. They learned "It's a Grand Old Flag" for the occasion and did a good job singing it. Bubby bought the little girls these very festive dresses and made Katie a skirt to match.
The Fourth of July is by far my favorite holiday. My Mom asked me why, hoping for a deep and meaningful answer to use in her lesson. I told her that I love the colors. Sorry Bub. No deep answer. One of my favorite things is shopping for festive matching outfits for the kids to wear. It is just too much fun!
Here is my happy 4th of July crew. Don't they look great?
And adding to my glee are the nieces and nephews that also need coordinating. I bet their Mom's would like a chance to dress their own kids for the holiday but Auntie Sarah butts right in and chooses the wardrobe for them. I think I started shopping for the boys in May. This is also a special picture because all of the Eves grandchildren are together. This only happens about twice a year if we are lucky. It was so good to be all together.
Another thing we love about he 4th in Cedar City is the sad small town parade. It is the same every year but I can't imagine being anywhere else. Jake is pretending to be grumpy. He was having fun, just didn't want his picture taken. His is almost 12 and his mother is SO annoying.
I can always count on Katie. Sorry Andrew, Katie refuses to be upstaged so she strategically plants her flag in the face of anyone else in the picture.
Lydia look particularly cute with her firework tattoo on her cheek. She is our little firecracker for sure.
Just before we left for the 24th of July weekend we headed to This is the Place Monument for a little fun before our pass expired. The kids love it there. I will seriously have to rethink renewing my yearly pass, I was really disappointed with the limited attractions when it isn't peak season. They are open year round but the gates are locked and the train is pretty much the only think running in the early spring and late fall and your pass does NOT get you into the live Nativity in December.
Maggie was not a huge fan of the horseback riding as you can see. She had a complete meltdown. Aaron thought that she would be fine once the horse started moving but I think that made it worse. Poor lady.
Jake and the ladies panning for gold.
Last weekend we headed south yet again for a reunion with Aaron's family. All of his cousins from the Wells side were in attendance with the exception of one. It was fun to see everyone and Grandma and Grandpa were so proud to have all of their children and grandchildren there as well. The highlight of the reunion was spending time and Aaron's Uncle Mark's cabin in Pine Valley. They have that place decked out. There are swings, trampolines, a zip line, a pickle ball court and many other super fun things to do. The kids had such a fun time. They never wanted to come home.
This is a picture of beautiful Pine Valley Mountain and beautiful Katie on her maiden voyage down Uncle Marks cool zip line.
I asked Aaron if he thought that Lydia was too small to do the zip line. As you can see, he didn't think she was too small and she had the time of her life. I was a nervous wreck. They aren't harnessed in, just hanging on for dear life. YIKES!
Maggie is such an outside girl. She loved running and exploring. She was one filthy, tired baby when we got home.
Katie is such a little dare devil. I think that she enjoyed the zip line more than anything else at the cabin, except maybe the little play house cabin.
One of my goals for this day was capturing a decent family photo. As I chased four children around Uncle Marks super fun yard (if you can call it a yard, it is huge!), I found Lydia rolling in the mud, Katie running through the sprinklers and Jake being dragged down the mountain side by the zip line. Maggie also poured a root beer down the front of her shirt just as I was gathering her up for pictures as well. The fact that we were all in one place at the same time was a miracle. Please ignore our semi disheveled appearance.
We rounded out our trip with a visit to one of our favorite cousins, Jon and his family. He is managing a beautiful ranch in Zion. The weather and food was fantastic and the company even better. One of the reasons our visit to Jon's was so emergent was the need to see these puppies before they all had homes. Jon breads Brittany Spaniels and they were too cute.
As you can see Jake is in puppy heaven!
So there you have it, our summer update. Come on back for more summer fun....if I can find some time to post. These children need to go back to school!
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