24th of July Neighborhood Parade

Every year we have a neighborhood 24th of July Bike parade.

Since neither of my kids have a bike we opted for Max in the stroller and Stella in her car.

Mom and dad took turns pushing Stella's car since she could not keep up with the bikes.

We ended at the park and had some breakfast. It was a success!

4th of July

The 4th of July has always been my favorite holiday.

This year was no different! We had so much fun!

We went to see some fireworks. Stella loved them! Max was fine with them.

Daddy and the kiddos

Stella 'oooohhhing and aaahhhing' over the fireworks

She caught one in her arms and brought it over for mama to hold

Once we got home I made "Firework Floats" which consisted of vanilla ice cream, red soda and poprocks! They were a hit! Stella LOVED THEM!

Joe and I opted for Root Beer Floats.. still very delicious

Firework Floats will make an appearance at every 4th of July to come!

Kids in the Kitchen.... Day Camp

Stella and Kaya have been going to different day camps with different themes.

The first week the theme was "Kids in the Kitchen"

They made cute little Aprons and Chef Hats.

Being silly girls!

Summer Family Party

My niece and nephew who live in Arizona came to visit for six weeks this summer.
Stella LOVED having her cousins here to play with.

She especially loved having all the "girl" cousins together.

Stella, Kinzie and Kaya

Here is a shot of Ash and (a rare shot of Mimi) my Mom with all the kids.

Ayden, Ashley, Kinzie, Stella, Mimi, Max and Kaya

One more picture adding Linkin to the shot. Now ALL of the grandkids are together!!

Fathers Day Present!!

For the past 4 Fathers Day's I've wanted to get Joe a grill

This year that is exactly what he got!

I think we grilled every night the week he got it!

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Look at the tasty feast we enjoyed! Steaks, Corn and Kabobs!

Stell and Max played with each other on opposite sides of the glass

Me and the kids after dinner... stella's face proves she enjoyed it.

We even made Smores on the grill. Stella really enjoyed them...

and so did Mr Max

YUMMY!!!

Our Crawler

Max started crawling a while back. One day I found him crawling up the stairs to his sister.

He made it all the way to the top with his sisters encouragement.

And boy was he ever proud of himself!

So he turned the corner and went up the second set of stairs.

With his sister telling him "Good Job Buddy" the entire way!

Swimming Lessons

Stella went to two weeks of swimming lessons in June.

She LOVED them and she did an AMAZING job!!

They played lots of "games" that made learning to swim lots of fun!

Stella was always going under water and blowing her bubbles. She was a great student!

She learned how to float on her tummy and her back. She even jumped of the diving board and swam to the side of the pull. Her teachers called her the deep sea diver! She loved that title!

This is Stella and her teacher Grandma Raynee

And Stella with her favorite teacher Brittany!

She had so much fun at lessons! And she is doing so well at our pool!

A Fun Summer Day

At the beginning of the summer we headed to the park to fly a kite.

But the winds were a little strong.. and the kite had a hard time flying high.

While daddy kept trying.. Stella kept busy rolling...

rolling...

and rolling down the hill... while Max and Mama took pictures.

Even though we never got the kite flying..... we still had a very fun time.

After our attempt of flying the kite we headed up the canyon for a picnic lunch.

We had fun.. though it was a bit chilly. We cuddled up in blankets.

Max wanted to be crawling around... but daddy kept him secure.

We had a very fun day!