4th of July!

The 4th of July is definitely one of my favorite holidays.  It has sun, family, friends, patriotism, good ol' BBQ and a laid back feeling of FUN!  This year my brother Robert got to visit us.

He is in Colorado for a summer internship, and was able to come over for a long weekend.  It was short and sweet!

For the second time, our neighborhood had its annual parade.  I was able to sing the National Anthem with Cloudburst at my side and really enjoyed the colors ceremony.

There was quite a good turnout, considering how many people travel.

Everyone got all decked out to ride or walk!  It was so fun for the kids.

I brought our karaoke machine and we had lots of fun performances.

Sunrise just wanted to be held!

After the parade we had a few people over for a backyard BBQ.

This time of year is so nice.  We love the hot weather and the chance to swim.

Sunrise was convinced that he is a big kid like everyone else.  "Why can't I just jump in Dad??"

Then he discovered that the hose had a small leak at a connection... and thought it was a very convenient drinking fountain just for him.

Sunrise loved Uncle Robert!  Loved pulling off his face, that is...

Actually Robert was great with him and with all the kids.  He's a great catch ladies!

Then we geared up for fireworks.  Some friends brought little parachute men that the kids loved to go chase (anyone else read "The Kite Runner"?).  It was such a fun day, can't wait til next year!!

Summer Days- June

One of our family's favorite treats is when Thunder makes his own caramel popcorn from scratch.  He makes it so warm and sweet and it is sooooooooo good.

UDOT is doing a large construction project near our neighborhood, creating a new freeway overpass and a new highway out to Saratoga Springs.  The overpass is getting two new bridges and they used a new technique of building the bridge off the side of the freeway and then moving the whole darn thing at once during the night.  My friend M and I went to watch them move part of the second bridge.  It was crazy windy but really incredible to see the giant bridge slowly move along on the 336 wheel machine.

We have a trail with lots of plants behind our house.  The kids are in heaven every day as they get to run around and explore.  They make up all sorts of games and love the neighbor kids.

When they're inside, they love to play games on the iPod!  We now have some strict limits or they would be on that thing all day.  We have no screen time (TV, iPod or computer) before 10 AM and their beds are made, rooms picked up, they are dressed and have their teeth brushed.

Here is Sunrise.  See, he eats!

He is cruising all over the place now, pretty solid on his own two feet.

This summer the kids are in a summer program at a place called the McKee Language School.  It is a fun camp where they have crafts and sing songs, but it's all in Spanish!

They have been having a really fun time, and it's pretty neat the words and phrases they have been picking up.

Here is the front room where they sing songs and play games.  They also have a snack room and a craft room.

Ahhhhh, life with four kids!  Tiring!

We took a short trip down to Yuba Lake.  It was a bit chilly for us wimpy adults to go swimming, but the kids jumped right in.

Thunder saw the double rainbow omen and thought it would be a good time to fish.

Remember Cousin Itt from the Addams Family??

Sunrise made a growling buddy in Sky.

It was nice to get away, even if it was cold and rainy!

Every year, our city of Lehi has a big parade.  Our ward designed a float this year with a safari theme.

The kids loved all the attention.

 Give out candy?  No!  I'll just shoot you in the face with water!

There's my cute little explorer!

Summer Days (or Daze?!?) of May

First is a picture of our house.  I don't know about you, but I always forget what people's homes look like, so I decided to post this shot of ours!

The kids have all LOVED riding their bikes around the neighborhood this year.  Tornado still has his training wheels, but doesn't let that slow him down one bit.  We also now have a paved path behind our house that they ride on.

Cloudburst and Sunshine both finished their first few months of piano lessons.  They have both done so well and had a good time at their recital.  It is hard to find a good time to practice because they both like to have me help them, and then Sunrise is running loose around the house, and Tornado is whipping up a storm somewhere else.... but they both love being able to play songs.  Sunshine especially loves The Ode to Joy.

Two handsome men!  Love those blue eyes.

And here are two friends enjoying the fruits of a big storm!  Cloudburst and her friend T. were in the same class at school and were also carpool buddies.  This is how they celebrated the last day of school!

And yes, Cloudburst is missing her two front teeth.  They've been gone for 2 months now.  We're hoping for an appearance of some teeth soon!  She wants to eat corn on the cobb!

On Memorial Day weekend, we got to have Nana and Papa come and visit.  They are always so fun!  The kids love it when they actually get pushed on the swing, or someone to play a sit-down game with them.

And here is a fun addition to the family!  Thunder found this online and the kids LOVE it!

We even got a few of the adults to go down....

... and the kids didn't want to come out even though they were freezing!

We really enjoyed the time and are looking forward to the next visit.

And if any picture could sum up our summer so far, it would be the grill!  We love a good BBQ.