July Part 2

July has been crazy, but fun. We celebrated tons of birthday's. This lovely lady being one of them.  

Then we headed down south for my brother, Justin's wedding. Quite the couple, eh?

 We had lots of fun playing with the Munk's ,and really appreciate them letting us stay for a few days.

 Doesn't Mady's hair look great? Ada did it so cute for the wedding.

 We then celebrated Ray and Dori's birthday. Dori got the coolest present.

 Look how cute they are. I love how Mady is holding him around the waist. So cute.

 They sure had a lot of fun together. We only wish we lived closer. It's always hard to leave such good friends!

 Also, would you believe how fast this pregnancy is going? I feel like I'm just popping out, while so many other's say "You can't tell!" I hate that. Ugh.

Here is a few things about what's going on. 

And in just a few days, we'll be off to Lake Powell!!!

July Part 1

Kim left to Peru! So crazy that both her and Nate are gone. We will miss Kimba so much! 

 Kim has been Mady's best friend for awhile. She loves her so much. Even thought the goodbye was tough, I can't wait to see the reunion between these two.

 We decided to go up north for the 4th of July and my birthday. It was super fun!

We spent a good day with Anna and Russell and their kids. Mady absolutely loves Jonas and Gwen.

We had lots of fun at the splash park.

Mady came home and crashed. She was super tired.

Alice is getting so big! Mady just adores her.

 The 4th of July was fun. Ray had to drive back home for work, so he didn't get to do fireworks with us. Mady loved it though.

 She had so much fun with the sparklers! Last year she was scared of them, and wouldn't even hold them. But this year, she kept asking for more.

 To watch the fireworks, we just walked around the block and watched them. Mady thought they were so cool. She is seriously my favorite little girl ever!

 Yes, I'm aware of the gum in my mouth. Just disregard how gross it looks.

 Ray bought me donuts for my birthday breakfast. Krispy Kreme even.

So delicious!

 And look how awesome Ray's family is! They decorated for me. It was the most sweetest and best present ever. They don't do birthday's so this was over and beyond my expectations. I most certainly loved it!

 And if that wasn't enough, we went home and celebrated with my family. My mom made a favorite meal of mine - stuffed peppers. So good!!

Also, check out our awesome garden!

 We planted 8 summer squash because I thought half would die. But as you can see, none of them did.

 Also, new birthday outfit! Love it!

Goodbyes and More

 June was the last time we saw Nathan. Kimberly and him had their farewell the Sunday before he left. Which was such a great event and many people attended. Isn't our family getting big?? It's going to be crazy when everyone's married and popping out grandkids.

 We all drove up north to drop Nathan off at the MTC. This was the last time we saw him and said our goodbyes. So sad, but we know he's doing great work for the Lord.

 June was also a hard month. I was laid off by my job, due to financing issues. It was devastating, but a tender mercy in disguise. I was able to spend more time with this cute girl.

So we had a camp-out, outside on our deck. Mady was super excited, I thought we were going to have a hard time getting her to sleep. But when Ray and I went in to brush out teeth, we came back out to this:

 Coming up with things to do that don't cost money in Sanpete is a little hard if you don't have fun toys; i.e. 4-wheelers, trucks, bikes. So I had to be a little creative.

 Mady wanted to go swimming. But I didn't want to drive to Ephraim and spend money.

 So up the canyon we went.

 Mady played for a good two hours. If I had thought to bring lunch we'd have probably stayed longer.

 This is now our go to place when Mady's bored and its nice outside.

 I just bring a good book and a chair and I'm good to go.

 Dress-up at Grandma's is always a favorite thing to do.

 And a pool with friends and snacks? What more could you ask for.

 Dancing is another fun thing we do. Mady loves to get all dressed up and dance to videos on youtube.

 And when I'm just plain tired and lazy, the pool on the deck suffices. This particular day,, I told Mady to get her swimsuit on. Her response: "Mom, there are no boys around to see me." Smart girl...

And the last thing I want to mention that happened in June is that Ray passed his boards! He is officially an Registered Nurse. He passed in 80 questions; which if any of you know anything about the test, that is AMAZING!! So proud of him. I don't know what I did to deserve him, but I'm glad I have him. Great job lover!!

Camping and 4-Wheeling in June

 We decided to go camping about a week before Nathan was to head out to the MTC. Kim was to leave shortly after him, in two weeks. So we all thought a family vacation was in order. We didn't have much time to do anything big, but camping was super fun.

 Mady had so much fun with everyone. She loved it when Kim took her in the backpack. Kim is super strong, because after five minutes, I'm dead in that thing!

Breanne also took a turn carrying Mady. Even Breanne lasted longer than me. Which was super embarrassing

.

And then, to make matters worse. My husband decides to show off what he can do. Yep, he wins, hands down. 

It was so nice just to sit around and talk with the family. No t.v. going, no music to talk over. It was perfect. 

And you can't call it camping without a fire.

I love the camping treats my Mom brings. We just stuff our face the whole trip and pretend we're not going to get fat. 

 It was so perfect. I can't wait to do it again.

A few days later, my Dad decided for family night we were all going to go 4-wheeling. 

It was Mady's first time going. Doesn't she look so stinkin' cute!

She loved every second of it.

If there is one thing I could say I love about Sanpete it is the mountains. I think we have the most gorgeous mountains!

This is where we stopped for dinner. So beautiful!

Kim took Mady down to throw rocks in the river. She sure is going to miss her Aunt!

 This girl! I could eat her up!

 I think everyone needs to take a drive up the Manti La Sal Mountains and least once in their lifetime. I mean just look at this. Takes your breath away.

 Selfie in front of the pond with my Papi's sunglasses. Two words people - Smokin hawt!

After we got back, everyone sprayed off the 4-wheelers and dried them off. Mady was such a big helper. 

 We then took a look at ourselves in the mirror. Mud and dirt all over. Yep, smokin hawt.

Mady thinks 4-wheeling is pretty much the coolest. She is always asking Grandpa for a ride. To which he obliges. How could you not?