Yellowstone Part 1

For our family vacation this year, we got to stay in a cabin with my family up by Yellowstone (thanks Emma's old boss). I hadn't been to Yellowstone in years and Micah had never been so I was so excited to go. The kids LOVE animals and love being outside in nature, so this seemed like it would be the perfect fit. 

This was the first long trip for Brighton. We were nervous because he gets so carsick, but he did amazingly well. Thank goodness we had Bec's portable DVD player to keep the kids sane throughout the drive.  

Enjoying some snacks while watching a movie.

Brighton was on Dramamine so he got sleepy pretty quickly. 

We got there on the 14th and just relaxed for the rest of the day while we waited for others to arrive. This was the view from the back porch of the cabin. I really wish the pictures did it more justice. It was amazing. I would love to live in a place like that!

Pretty soon some cousins arrived and my kids were ecstatic. They love hanging out with their cousins. Lila doesn't usually get to use an iPad, etc. so she loved watching cousin P play on his family's.

Of course wrestling and rough housing was involved throughout the whole trip. :) 

By the evening, everyone who was coming on this extended family vacation had arrived and we just chilled the rest of the night after a long day of travel.

My Birthday and the 4th

My birthday this year was pretty low key, but the kids did make me quite a delicious cake, and Micah got me some amazing gifts. I've been wanting a painting of Christ to put up in our front room for awhile. I already had a Christus, but we have so many big walls in our front room that I just thought that I really needed a nice painting to help fill in the wall space. I've also been wanting a big clock. Luckily for me, I have an awesome husband who decided to get me both. :) 

A yummy dessert from a restaurant for my b-day. Yay!

I got to actually go to Hobby Lobby to pick out my clock. It was a lot of fun. Micah picked the painting of Christ, and I think he did a great job!

Here's a picture of the arrangement on my wall thus far. I plan to continue to add things to my walls and so this arrangement will change over time. 

Next up was the 4th.

On the 2nd, Lila and Brighton went with my sister to an airport to participate in some fun activities. They ended up in the Deseret News newspaper as patrons of the event. It was a fun little thing. The kids had a great time!

Here's their picture from the paper.

Lila looked all festive for the Sunday before.

 

  

The next day, the kids and I headed to Provo to attend the parade. It certainly was hot this year, but we still had a great time!

The kids got dressed up in their patriotic best.

Some fun toes for me!

Then the parade.

  

  

Later that day we headed to grandma's to finish out our celebrations. 

We had some fun 4th of July treats to tide us over until the evening. :)

 

The kids played an intense game of "Don't Eat Pete!"

Then, it was time for my FAVORITE part!! FIREWORKS!!! I love them!

 

 

Brighton watched them pretty intensely.

 Lila became very interested in the glow sticks that I had brought.

Happy 4th! I love the U.S.A.