Rachel Came to Party - Part 1

At the end of July, my (brave) sister-in-law, Rachel, came to visit us with her three kids from Seattle, Washington.  I say brave, because I don't think I would take on three kids on a round trip flight halfway across the country!  I had to give her mad props.  She was here for 8 days, so we were able to squeeze in some fun, but also were able to just relax and enjoy hanging out and letting the cousins play together.

The first full day they were here, Saturday July, 27th, was a grocery shopping day, settling in in kind of day.  We were able to hang out with Don and Cindy and their family, which is always fun.  The whole crew went to Chipotle for dinner, and enjoyed the dog statues outside afterwards.

On Sunday we went to church, then had a big dinner at our house with Don and Cindy again.  It was so fun to have so many cousins (9!!) running around and playing together.

The week of fun was just beginning!

Maple Grove Days

You would think that after living here for 6 years, we would have attended our annual town celebration, Maple Grove Days, more often than we have.  In fact, we only went to the fireworks the very first year we were here, and have not done any of it since.  It seems like we are often gone that time of year, or have something going on, but we just have never really done it.

This year, with Don and Cindy back, and eager to do some of the activities, coupled with the fact that we were actually IN town, we were able to do the parade and the fireworks this year.  Some year, we may do more of the activities, especially since kids are getting older and enjoying it more and more, but we had a great time with those two events this year.

On Thursday evening, July 11th, we went to the parade.  The parade was long, so we only stayed for part of it , as we still had to eat dinner (which we ended up doing at about 9:00 pm!).  The kids loved being with their cousins, getting candy, and watching all the different floats, trucks, and cars go by!

On Saturday, July 13th, we went to see the fireworks with Don and Cindy's family, and our good friends, Parley and Angela.  I have always been a little bugged that Maple Grove doesn't do fireworks on the 4th of July, and does them instead during Maple Grove Days, only a couple weeks later, but it was a pretty great show, so oh well.  It is what it is, right?  We had great seats, right on the lake where they were shooting them off, and again, we all had a great time!  Hopefully Maple Grove Days can become more of a tradition in our future!

Wyoming Vacation - Part 6

On our last day in Wyoming, we unfortunately spent a lot of the day packing up and all of that fun stuff!  We were able to sneak away for a little bit though, with the little girls to let them go get pedicures!

Before we left we were able to go out to a fun Mexican restaurant for dinner with the whole family.  Table for 18???

Then right before we loaded the car we got some pictures of all the grandkids (not the easiest task, but one that you HAVE to do when everyone is together...notice the reflections of all the adults in the door trying to get the kids looking??!!).

It was so sad to leave...especially knowing that my family was all still going to be there for a while!  We had a great time though, and love the time that we got to spend with everyone.  After a loooong drive home (although the kids were REALLY good, so I can't complain!) it definitely felt good to be back in our own beds and *sort of* felt good to get back to the routine.  We just hope it isn't another three years before we see all these guys again! 

Wyoming Vacation - Part 5

On our second to last day there, we got to do one of our favorite Wyoming things...hiking around Vedauwoo.  I have never been there with my kids, so I wasn't sure how they would do at first, but they loved it and were climbing all over the rocks!  Thanks goodness we had Cameron there though, with me, my mom and my sister Lindsey, because he was certainly helpful in getting kids down a few times!

Wyoming Vacation - Part 4

Even after all the fun during the day on the 4th, we had some more fun in the evening!  We killed time waiting for fireworks by letting the kids play with poppers and sparklers.  There may or may not have been some men in our family (ahem, Cameron and Kipp) who also shot off some illegal fireworks in the street.  Those crazy guys.

When it was time for fireworks, we loaded up all the kids and took them to the hill behind our house to watch them.  They all loved them, and it was so fun that they all got to watch them together!

It was a wonderful 4th of July!