Anyway, we've had the busiest of Julys. And it's not over yet. It started with us waking up really early on July 2nd to go see the balloon launch. Provo does this every year but we've never gone. You have to wake the kids up at 6:00 to be down to the field by 6:30. We obviously went on the wrong day because they didn't launch the balloons because it was too "windy". It wasn't blowing at all on the ground. But I guess there were some ominous looking clouds in the distance that were blowing our way so they couldn't launch. But the kids had fun watching the balloons blow up.
Notice how tired Collin looks.
Ezra and Clara.
The whole gang.Mark's brother John and Ema were in town for a couple of weeks. It's always fun having them here and we pack the time with fun outings. This year we went to This is the Place monument. It was a fun place with lots of pioneer activities, but it rained so hard while we were there. We were all sopping.
Collin getting a "shave". This is right before he had a meltdown because the guy touched him.
Clara was hesitant at first but after everybody else did it, of course she had to try.
Collin on the train. Notice the lovely smile. This is how he smiles these days, usually in the middle of saying cheese. But it doesn't turn into a smile, he just keeps the grimace.We also went to the 4th parade. Always a good time.
Mark holding Collin and our newest nephew Elias.
We also went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house while John and Ema were here. It is very pretty but took us a while to get through because it was so busy. We took Mark's mom and 92 year old grandpa. Collin loves him. We pushed Grandpa Young in the wheelchair because it would be too long for him to walk. Collin walked next to him a lot of the time and would reach over and hold his hand. Then he'd go look at something and come back: "Bumpa, hand" he'd demand. It was so cute.
The grandkids and Maralee and Grandpa Young. Notice Collin is not in the picture. He is off to the side having a meltdown. It was a long day.I told you this was long. We also made a trip to my parents in Idaho Falls. We always enjoy visiting there and as always enjoyed a trip to the Tautphus Park zoo and playland. Collin and Clara love spending time with grandparents. Clara didn't want to leave.
Collin and Grandpa Jon in the petting zoo.
Clara and Anna pretending to be birds in the bird nest.
We've also been enjoying our garden. Some things are doing well and others are not. Our beans are ones that are doing well. At the nursery this year I just grabbed a packet of green beans. The beans looked nice and green on the front but when I got them home to plant them, I noticed that they were called Purple Queens. They grow in purple and then turn to green when you cook them. It's like magic. Clara thinks they are neat.
This is what they look like when you pick them. They are this dark purple color. And they turn into this:
Over the last several years, I have enjoyed getting together with my old roommates from BYU, Becky, Kristie, and Karen, for a fun game of cards. We all lived in or around SLC so we'd get together every other month or so, but then Becky moved to Boise. So we all took a trip up to see her for a weekend. Kristie brought all 5 of her kids, and Becky has 4, and I brought Clara. It was a crazy weekend with lots of swimming and card playing. Of course my camera died after only a few pictures so I'll post more when I get them from others. Suprisingly it was farely low key for having 10 kids in the house.
7 of the 10. Curtis, Spencer, Savannah, Clara, Sarah, Sarah, and Katherine.And finally, today we celebrated pioneer day but going to the pioneer festivities here in Provo.
The day wouldn't be complete without face painting and rock suckers.
Thanks to my parents for providing Clara's pioneer outfit. This is the only skirt they had left. We used to have tons of pioneer dress up clothes. Clara was very disappointed that they didn't keep the aprons and dresses. We also used to have a covered wagon topper that would go on a wagon and we could put our dolls in and parade them around. She was extremely disappointed when she found out they didn't have that either.
