Fourth of July Fun

July was a fun filled month for our family. Always love a month with two patriotic Holidays in one month! We get to celebrate America's Birthday along with Utah's Birthday!
It has become our tradition to attend the Balloon Fest in Provo. It is a three day festival and the first two days the balloons had trouble because of weather, but luckily the day we went the balloons were able to take off.

The Pig Balloon is always one of the kids favorites. 

Even at this early hour my husband loves me. Or maybe he just loves the cinnamon rolls I'm holding in the bag ;)

It is cold and early, but so worth seeing all the incredible balloons.

One of my favorites!

Magical!

Precious!

The Balloon Fest was followed by the 4th of July Parade, but somehow I didn't get any pictures. I must have been tired.  The funniest part was when the mouse scampered into the Marching Band and they all freaked out followed by the Polynesian lady chasing the mouse to kill it. And the lady got the sucker! Good for her!

That evening we enjoyed fireworks at Mom's house with Kim's family and the neighbors joining us.

I think that boy enjoys fire a little too much!

It is so nice that the kids are getting so big we don't have to watch them so closely around the fireworks. And they love the chance to light the fireworks!

Happy Birthday America!  We love celebrating with you!

October Recap

How is it the middle of November already? Where did the last two months go? How is Thanksgiving just a week and a half away. Good news is Black Friday is almost here and we can't wait for that! But before November is gone I thought I'd recap October.

We started the month in our favorite way. General Conference weekend we spent at a cabin above Sundance Resort. My mom's employer owes a couple of cabins and is generous enough to let us stay a couple of times each year. Because all my siblings are out of state we got to invite Mark's family to join us this time. We were able to catch the last of the fall colors. How would you like this to be your backyard?

Saturday morning we found a surprise.  Our little niece was getting ready and turned around to find this in the bathroom.

So Mark's Dad came to the rescue

And we released Mr. Bat back to his normal habitat

These three ladies were the lucky ones to share a bedroom with Mr. Bat

Paige, Carole, and JaCee were much braver than I would have been.

The rest of the weekend was not so exciting.  Just wonderful food, lots of family and sitting by this

watching General Conference.  It doesn't get much better than that!

The next big event of the month was the Stake Road Shows.  They had the youth in each Ward in the Stake perform a 12 minute skit.  Jessica was one of the sheep and delivered her line wonderfully!

We found some time during Fall Break to squeeze in our annual trip to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point

And even had Mark join us for a picnic lunch!

The girls were brave and concurred The Beast!

I was happy to stay outside and wait with John.





The kids had a blast on all the rides and I spent a lot of time watching them play. I'm still dreaming of the day when I can walk and stand without being in any pain.  Hopefully that day will come soon!

But the kids still had a blast even though we didn't go through the main corn maze this year.  Sorry we missed Larry Miller's head.

And of course we finished the month off with some pumpkin carving.

Our friend Lori came over and joined us one night.

And we got them carved in time for Halloween!

Here is our crazy bunch getting ready to head to school for some parties!

Happy October!!  Thanks for a fun month.

Remembering

Memorial Weekend was a busy one as always this year.  We went to Orem Cemetery on Sunday.  For awhile we didn't think we would make it because of all the rain.  But it let up for a few hours so we dashed over there.  The nice part was it wasn't as busy as usual because of the weather.

We stopped by my Dad's

And my mom's parents

Then on our walk over to my Grandma Pritchett's we stopped at my cousin Chase's

Then onto my dad's mom's grave

And next to hers is my Uncle's grave

Then on Monday we headed to Santaquin for their Memorial Day Program.

Mark's parents helped raise the money for their memorial, so they are always involved in the program.  Grandpa Jim was part of the 21 gun salute.

Doesn't he look dignified and important!

The program is a great way to teach our children what Memorial Day is all about.  Somehow I stopped taking pictures of graves, but we visited Mark's relatives in Santaquin and Payson Cemetery before the day was through.

I'm so grateful to live in a country where I am free to choose and free to live.  I'm grateful to all those who are brave and have fought for our freedom.

Happy Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween this year.  LOVED the warm weather!  Now you might think this is what my girls did for Halloween

But that was for crazy hair day the day before.  Unfortunately John was too sick to go to school that day, so he did not get to participate.

But on Friday he did make it to school just in time for the end of his class party and the school parade.  He went as a Ninja, but his claustrophobia prevented him from wearing the hood, so we just put black paint on his face.

Jessica loved her Red Riding Hood cape.

And Ashley went to school as a which since she could not take her sword for her evening costume.

But I thought Jessica's teacher's costume was incredible.

And that evening we caught up with Kyleen at Mom's house and hit a few houses with her girls.

And since I was helping in Jessica's class I even dressed up this year.

Hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween.  Now it is time to focus on Thanksgiving.  Somehow I volunteered for hosting Mark's Family Party at our place.  We are still mapping out how we will sit 30 in our place.  The couch will definitely have to go to the garage.