July

July was hot.  We definitely did some laying around...outside of course: 

We did mix it up tho...there was alot of time spent in the garden, and partaking the fruits of our labor!

We tried out the great Salt Lake...never again. It's way too gross. It was cool to not sink but we have no plans to ever swim there again.

And of course the main event:

The 4th of July!

We caught the parade in the morning:

And we wrapped it up with some awesome fireworks! (seriously, we should have charged admission we had that many fireworks) The kids may or may not have helped with more than sparklers...but we will keep that photographic evidence on a needs to know basis. Check out the homemade shirts!

Late in the month I begged convinced Stuart to take me to the Tim Mcgraw concert.  He actually enjoyed it quite a bit.  It was a pretty good one.

Finally, we visited several of the fairs in our area...the kids favorites are inevitably the carousel and Ferris wheel.

Freedom!

We are so proud and happy to celebrate our nation and all the liberties we enjoy living here!  We were lucky to spend some time with our ward family for the traditional Summerville Second pancake breakfast...unfortunately all the rain took going to a firework show off the table, but my little pyros were still able to set off enough explosives and see quite the show in the neighborhood.  Actually, Chiara loves fireworks so much she asked to set off all the same ones as the big boys this year and ended up doing some Roman candles by herself!  Sadly, that and Asher's sparkler use took more supervision than picture taking allowed, but here are some fun shots of our wonderful day!

Texas...Everything is Bigger

And this post is proof. It's a big post because we had big fun!

Sharon's house had everything:

there was loving

and cooking

some music

more loving

some more loving

some snuggling

a little more snuggling
(sorry guys its the only picture I took of the two of you)

There was cake,

laughing

a birthday boy

wishes

ice cream

cake

cake

and more cake!

There was some reading...

and more reading :)

some games

 And of course the best part:

 It was so much fun to meet Reid and Jana and the sweet cousins for the first time!  And it was so nice to see everyone else after so long apart!

The next day (the fourth) we headed out to The Alan Larsen home to celebrate in style:

Brothers!

 Had to squeeze some swimming in:

watch shows

took a nap

enjoyed Grandpa's homemade rootbeer
 (and other yummies)

 I may have then proceeded to indulge in a phootshoot spree:

Cousins!!!

 I may have gone a little crazy...but hey we have some cute babies in this family!

Of course no forth would be complete without fireworks!!!

Asher was enthralled!!

There was just one more day left for us to rest and relax.

Bumbo girls

 We took the chance to visit Grandpa Klosowsky's grave site.  I truly wish that I could have met him here, but look forwarding to getting to know him.

Whew!  And then we were off again!

So much fun was had by all and once again my back got a break...literally!

Proof: