4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July!  Rick worked during the day and then was off in the evening.  We spent the day taking pictures and attending a welcome home party for a return missionary friend of ours! Merrie also was home for a few weeks, so we were able to celebrate with her too!! 

After rick got home we had some amazing BBQ, swam, and set off some fire works!!

This was Matthew's first sparkler he was really unsure at first but finally decided he liked it!

Lilly and Grandma enjoying the fire works.

 both kids had to sit with Grandma!

Lilly's first sparkler

These pictures are actually from Memorial Day but they never got posted!  We went to visit the graves of both of my Grandfathers who were both Veterans. 

Matthew is Four!!

Matthew turned four!!  I can't believe how old he is getting!!  This year Matthew asked to have a pirate party.  Matthew has been in love with the Disney Junior show Jake and the Neverland Pirates, so it couldn't just be any pirate party!  As is tradition, my mom made his cake which was super cute! (she always does an amazing job!)

 The goody bag's I made (I found the idea on pinterest!!)

Matthew always wants to have a swimming party, which is ideal because it is usually too hot to do anything else!  We had a day full of family, friends and fun!! 

 Lilly handled the present opening really well!!

Matthew had a wonderful birthday, he has already informed me what kind of party he wants to have next year for his "5" birthday!  A special thanks to my parents for letting us have the party at there house and making the cake, and thank you to everyone who attended the party and helped make Matthew's birthday a special event!!

Utah!

We made a quick trip to Utah to bring my mom home after she drove up with Merrie (Merrie is moving to Utah to work and go to school!)  I made the trip up on my own with both kids in tow...apparently I'm insane! The trip really wasn't too bad, aside from a million potty breaks!  The kids watched movies and slept most of the trip!  We stayed at my aunt's house while we were there, it was fun to see everyone!!

We got to do a lot of fun things while we were there!  We went to a really neat mall in Salt lake City!  There was a huge out door fountain and at different times during the day there were water shows set to music! 

The mall also had a Disney store!!!!  Matthew and Lilly had a blast in the playing with all the toys!!

There was also this really cute castle inside the store!!

 Matthew calls my cousin Sarah "his big Sarah" 

We got to visit a lot of family while we were there and the kids got to meet a lot of new cousins!!  They had so much fun!!

 Matthew and Lilly meeting there newest cousin Samuel!

We also go to go to Cabela's!!  Which is something I've wanted to do for awhile!!  Matthew loved the aquarium, and all the animals!! 

After Cabela's we headed over to Ikea, also a first for me!!  We had fun looking around at all the neat things they had at Ikea and even had dinner there!

 Lilly enjoying the ribs at Ikea!!

They have splash pads everywhere in Utah, which is something that Matthew loves!!  So on one of our last days there we went to an outdoor mall (Which had two separate splash pads!!) so the kids could have some fun in the water!!  We met some cousins there and the kids had a great time!!

Heading home was bitter sweet!  I was really ready to get home and see Rick, but sad to leave Merrie behind! 

We got home right before Matthew's actual birthday, We celebrated his real birthday at home with a small cake and Matthew's favorite food, spaghetti!  We also did some last minute shopping for Matthew's birthday party!

  

After being away for a week the kids had to get in some pool time!

Summer's on it's way!

May has pretty much been a blur of random moments!  The kids have started swimming!  It's still a bit too cold for me but we can't seem to keep them out of the water! Lilly is fast approaching the terrible twos and it shows!  She is a mess always throwing fits and tantrums!  

   

Matthew and Lilly love to go to the park downtown.  There's no sand, lots of fun toys, and ducks!  I like it cause it's nice and close to our house, and there is lots of shade!

  

When we can't make it Grandma and Grandpa's to swim the kids love to run through the sprinklers!!

Matthew and Lilly love to play with Grandpa!!  Matthew's favorite game these days is tag, and one of his favorite tag partners is Grandpa! 

We have taken Matthew to a few plays lately, and he does pretty well for a little boy his age!  It also gives us a chance to have alone time with him. (Lilly gets her alone time when Matthew goes to Grandma's to spend the night or do school type things.)    

Matthew and Rick are so much alike!! (It's kinda crazy!)

 Lilly is still very much a daddy's girl! This picture was taken one morning as Rick was leaving for work.  Most morning's this is what happens, she watches him leave from the window and stays in that exact position and cries for him to come back...it's not that she doesn't like me it's just that she really likes her daddy.
(Lilly waiting for daddy to come home)

 Another of Lilly's many tantrums! 

And last certainly not least, Merrie aka Auntie Momo graduated from high school!!  We are so proud of her!!  We all attended her graduation at the Fox Theater and the went for ice cream at Dewars after!!