Bountiful Handcart Days

We had a fantastic 23rd of July!

One of my favorites of the year!  

We did the parade then fireworks at Heather's

Mom got an ice-cream cone for her birthday.

I'm pretty sure Lindsay ate the majority of it.

This guy waved RIGHT to us!  Matt thought that was pretty neat!

I am still a Brave at heart, but we have been listening to the Woods Cross Band play everyday and so we couldn't help cheer for them!  

Lindsay LOVED getting to see her cute babysitter in the parade!

This was my favorite float!

Book of Mormon heroes on one side, and future missionaries on the other side.

We got so much "stuff" at the parade.  Matt was pretty proud of his Ute stuff.

Especially showing it to his cougar mother.

My favorite part of the parade was right after this picture was taken of Lindsay.

There was something she didn't get that they were throwing out, and she got really sad.

I showed her the kids way in the back, and told her they probably didn't get anything at all.

After that, she took all of her candy, necklaces, fans, and any other "stuff" and walked to the kids sitting way in the back, and handed out all of her things to kids that didn't get anything.  She was so much happier to share and give her things away.  I was really proud of her.

After the parade we headed up to Heather's.

She always hosts the most amazing pre-firework show.

Really, it is so much fun!

Greg loads up his potato gun with glowsticks, candy, and toys, then shoots it off and the kids run and get everything!  It is a hoot!  Here is a video I took from last year, HERE.

Lindsay loved getting candy (especially after she gave all of hers away at the parade).

BJ is always the hit of the party!

Kids getting ready for more candy!

The 23rd is also my favorite mama's birthday!

We sang happy birthday and had some cake!

And, as always, the fireworks did not disappoint.

I think it was the best year of fireworks yet!

Cooking Class

My cute friend and neighbor, Chris, works at a daycare and asked if I would teach a "cooking class" for her day care kids.  We had SO much fun!  I taught them how to make bread (starting with grinding the wheat), and how to make jam (starting from picking the berries).  There were only 3 kids of the 12 that had made bread before--and they were MINE!  Some of the kids didn't believe me that you could make flour, bread, or jam.  It was a fun experience.

I made these silly little hats for the kids, but I think they like them, and it helped me remember their names.  Matt loved having a bunch of kids his age at our house.  And Andrew thought he was one of the "big kids."

Pirate's Cove Anniversary Suite!

I know that a lot of people think this is really dumb, but for several of our anniversaries I have recreated a different "Anniversary Inn" room at home. Several anniversaries I have been nursing and we couldn't go out for long.  This year I knew we were going to be really busy with Youth Conference so I did a room a little early this year.

Here are a few rooms I've done in the past.

Our first year I did the "Jungle Room"

Another year I did the "Presidential Suite"

Another year was the "Hawaiian Hideaway"

One of my favorites was our "Wild Wild West Room"

This year, I did the "Pirate's Cove."

Youth Conference Part 2

Friday morning the youth did some service projects, then they spent the rest of the day in SLC around Temple Square.  I didn't get to go with them, but Darin said is was really fun.

That night, I had the YW over for a sleepover.  We did heart-attacks to the boys where they had their sleepover.  An hour later, we had a knock on the door and the boys had "paper-plated" us.  They left a note, a box of popcorn, and lots of boy-humor pickup lines.  The girls LOVED it!

We did spiritual thoughts, scriptures, and prayers, then we did facials, had treats, and they watched a movie in their sweet tent I made for them.  They were all kind and very appreciative.

In the morning, I made them crepes and then there were off to go back to temple square for the day!

This is what it looked like from the outside...

And here is the inside.

Here are the treats.  Cookies, tarts, and a popcorn bar.

This picture cracks me up! Darin said, "You're going to take a picture of me explaining our remote control?"  I said yes, and the girls said, "Lets act really fascinated by the remote."

It was our anniversary, so Darin got away with the boys to buy me some chocolates.
Then before bringing the girls to our house, they went and got me flowers! :)  Sweet spouse!