Makes me smile everytime

Just a few more pictures of my kids in Utah - I just can't resist!

The snake is a nice touch, I think!

Rachel reminds me of THIS little girl, so I bought the print for her room.  Cowboy boots with a dance leotard - classic Rachel!

Updates

In case you're a dedicated reader (i.e., mom), I added THIS (click) post and updated THIS (click) post and backdated the publish date, so you're not gonna see it unless you scroll all the way back.

Fourth of July Festivities

I love to be in Utah for the 4th of July for many reasons - one being that it's not too hot to go outside and another is that we have so many family traditions!  

On the Saturday before the 4th we went to see the hot air balloons in Provo with the Thompson family.  Then we had breakfast across the street at Chad & Cindy's apartment with the whole crew.  There's something kind of magical about hot air balloons to me, and the kids are always fascinated by them as well.

When we got back to the Hale's house later that morning, the kids all played together while the daddies went golfing.  Grandma Nancy always pulls out all the stops and has fireworks for the kids, they swim in her hot tub, play in her jumping house, and eat lots of ice cream dibs and otter pops.  Then when the boys got back, we had lunch and the boys re-built their fireworks for tank wars or something?  Whatever they were doing with the fireworks, entertained them for a couple hours.  

That night we went to a BBQ at Aunt Marilyn's house and swam in her pool.  All of the boy cousins played a serious game a water basketball, and the girls chatted.  And thanks to Val's photography, I actually got in some pictures! 

Then after putting Andrew to bed, we headed over to sit outside the Stadium of Fire to watch the fireworks with my family.  I'm not sure it's worth the long walk back to the car, but we always have a good time (and Rachel particularly liked staying up so late).  And I missed this, but apparently Grandpa Thompson got a ride to his car on the back of my dad's motorcycle - wish I couldn't have seen that!

Such a sweet picture of Papa Wally

Love this picture, because it's what everyone wants to do when they see Andrew!

{all pictures above taken by Val Hale}

Rachel with cousin, Liam (same age) waiting for the fireworks to start

Not sure if I was supposed to be in this picture with Chad, Cindy & Logan but it's proof I was there - I'll take it!

On Monday, we started the day with the kid's fun run and then headed over the parade.  Kyle, Chad & Cade were kind enough to save our spots the day before and spend the night with very little sleep.  Is the Provo parade worth that?  Absolutely not.  But it's in the name of tradition.

We attended two more BBQ's that day.  The first was with the Hale extended family, which is always exciting with the annual candy drop and waterfight.  Andrew and I snuck out before we got wet, but I heard Brandon did great as the celebrity candy dropper, Jimmer Fredette.

The last of the festivities was another BBQ with the Thompson family and we didn't stay the whole time because we were obviously exhausted and stuffed!  (Although I said I wouldn't eat at the second BBQ, but totally had a burger with all the fix-ins and a few side dishes... oh and dessert if we're being truthful.)

Oh how I love the Fourth in Utah!!

I had this taken BEFORE the parade, because everyone usually seems to be hot and grumpy by the end.  :)

Patiently waiting

Bubba didn't really "get" the whole parade thing (like Father, like Son) - he took a nap in daddy's arms but I did manage to get a shot of him sitting in Rachel's princess chair while she wasn't looking

4th of July Fun Run

Rachel told me she wanted to run a race like mommy & daddy, so I found a 1 mile race for kids on the 4th (part of the Provo Freedom Festival).  She was such a dedicated running partner while I trained for Ragnar (meaning she sat in the stroller while I pushed), and I would always give her a turn to run and she could go pretty far.  I was convinced she'd run so fast for her age group (1-3) and possibly place, but she got very distracted along the way and was too busy having fun to run fast.  With a little cheering from her fans and a little coaching from Brandon, she finished the mile run all by herself.  Go Rachie!

Brandon was able to run next to her, and she also ran it with her cousin, Mason, & his dad, Scott ... oh yeah, and her green wand ran with her too (see pictures).  Mason and Rachel were darling together and waited for each other when the other one wanted to walk, and Mason was polite to stop and wait for Rachel while she waved to the crowds.  They both kept the end prize in mind - a MEDAL!  They looked so cute in their matching race shirts too!  Final race time:  17 minutes, 24 seconds

1 mile run - Mason (age 4) & Rachel (age 3)

More Pictures!

If you're one of those readers who hates when people post a ton of pictures of their kids in basically the same pose, then you better skip this post.  :)

The last day we were there, I told Brandon that I had taken nice pictures of everyone else's kids and none of my own (wah wah wah!).  And I knew it would be awhile since it's so darn hot here in Arizona, so I took these the last 24 hours we were in Utah, after a very busy 4th of July weekend.

Andrew is 9 months old and Rachel is 3 years old.  (Again, no touchup/photoshop although I kind of want to on a few of them.)

Lots of Pictures!

I took a boat load of pictures this trip, which is a good thing but it's so hard to choose favorites!!

I had a impromptu photo shoot with my nephew, Logan (just over a year old).  He always has such serious looks on his face, so that's what I wanted to capture.  Mom & Dad got him to smile a few times, but I liked the serious ones, especially showing off his dark, gorgeous eyes!  And Logan really warmed up to me by the end of our trip - he is such a sweetheart!

I also took pictures of Chase at 1 year old, and he was so busy!  I felt like I was just chasing him around the yard.  I was sort of surprised the pictures turned out as well as they did.  I'm still kind of surprised when my pictures turn out well since I have very little training - I'm just basically self taught and I am still working on the lighting in my pictures.  Oh well, it's just a fun hobby!  Anyhow, Chase's light blue eyes are to die for!!

My nephew & niece, Mason and Brynn were next up and we got lots of good ones that capture their personalities.  It was hard to get a good one of the two of them together, but that's always the case with siblings.  The key to their smiles in this shoot was tellings jokes - they absolutely loved any jokes we told.

I am in a phase right now and I want to love my pictures right out of the camera rather than spending lots of time editing them in photoshop, so I am happy to say that all of these pictures are right out of the camera with no photoshop work.

Logan

Chase

Mason

Brynn

Escaping the Heat - June Highlights

The kids and I were in Utah from June 15 - July 5th to visit with family and escape the summer heat in Arizona!  Brandon came for the first weekend, then flew home to work for a couple weeks and then flew back to meet us over the holiday weekend.  I thought it was a good amount of time to be there - it was long enough to have the kids be on their worst & best behavior and be sick and healthy again.  :)

This drive up and back, we did during the day rather than driving all night, and can I just say that our kids are amazing little travelers in the car!  On the way up, we went through St. George and stayed the night there so that we could go to "Little Mermaid" at Tuacahn Theater with my mom, who drove down to meet us.  Rachel was entertained the entire time, and got to stay up the latest she ever has - midnight!  She was very concerned that King Triton destroyed all of Ariel's treasures - so very concerned that she talked about it for days.  She got to meet Ariel & Prince Eric after the show, and Rachel told Ariel she had a beautiful voice.  Rachel is very much into princesses these days!!  A few times while in Utah, when she came upstairs first thing in the morning, she'd say, "Nana, the princess is awake!"  (My mom also gave Rachel all the princess barbies for her birthday.)

Rachel also got to go with Kennedy to the Princess Festival at Thanksgiving Point on a date with Grandma Nancy.  Aunt Marilyn & Allie came too, and they all wore princess dresses, high heels, and talked about princess things, I'm sure.  They had a wonderful time and Rachel told me all about all the Princesses at the Festival.  I can't say that she has a favorite - it changes between Belle, Ariel, & Rapunzel, I think.  The princesses weren't quite as good as the ones at Disneyland in my opinion, but what a fun adventure for the little princess cousins!

Other highlights included:

- A trip to the Atrium with Nana, Cindy & Logan

- A few different stops to my favorite jumping place, "Jump On It" 

- Rachel FINALLY rode on Papa's motorcycle - she has always been so terrified of even sitting on it, but she found enough courage for a quick ride

- Coming home in a different vehicle and trading in our Altima while in Utah (more on that later!)

- On the way home we found the best little park in Kanab, Utah - it had the most darling playground and splashpad, which provided a good break for the kids to get out and play for a little bit

Happy Birthday, Papa!  Rachel made sure that Nana got him a motorcycle cake since she knew that's what kind he would want!  She must have had some red frosting - yuck!

Nana feeding the birds at the Atrium (birdlady, perhaps?)

Kiddos at the Atrium

The City Park in Kanab was darling!!  It was the perfect time to take a break and get soaked. 

What a good daddy!

Gas Station Stop