24th of July

This year for Pioneer Day we went to my parent's house to celebrate with dinner, homemade ice cream and fireworks. Also every year my parent's neighborhood puts on a huge firework show that is very comparable to the Stadium of Fire. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of those fireworks.

Wesley and Vanessa weren't big fans of the noise from the fireworks, but Jayla didn't care...she was too enthralled.

I had to hold Jayla the whole time because she kept trying to get into the fireworks. She isn't afraid of anything!

Jayla trying to get Daddy's sparkler.

This was Jayla very first sparkler...and she LOVED it!

Afterward all of the boys played basketball and baseball. Jayla looks like a pro throwing this baseball. She even has her tongue hanging out ready to throw it.

This was Jayla on the ride home. She was thoroughly exhausted from the excitement of the day.

Family Barbeque

It was our cousin Lizzie's birthday so her parent threw a great big party in her honor. They always know how to PARTY. They had water volleyball, an outside movie, ping pong, a pinata and plenty of food!! It was so much fun! This is Lizzie when she came outside and saw everyone!

Michael and his cousin John are playing a bean bag game. Jayla always has to be in the middle of the action. She wanted to play with the bean bags just like her daddy.

The boys (Grandpa and Uncle Tom) playing an intense game of ping pong. Just after I took this picture I was able to distract Nolan just long enough for him to miss the ball.
Your welcome Uncle Tom.

Uncle Tom, the master of barbecuing
(and we're not just saying that!).

Jayla kept begging everyone for their ice cream. After she had eaten all of grandma's ice cream she decided she needed to eat all of grandpa's as well. She looked at grandpa and said, "Gam-pa UMMMM." so how could grandpa say no to that! Of course he let Jayla polish off the rest of his ice cream.

Jayla hanging out with her daddy and
giving the camera a cheesy grin.

Jayla loved chasing after this ball. She kept playing with this HUGE ball the whole time.

Shelly hugging Jayla. Shelly adores little Jayla and is always begging us to babysit. She so good with Jayla. Shelly is going to put her papers in soon for her mission. We will be excited to see where she will serve.

Swim Party

We had a Swim Party with some of the kids in our ward. The little kids loved it! They had so much fun! The more kids and toys the bigger the smile on Jayla's face gets.

Jayla got so excited that she started to scream at the top of lungs! I am so glad that I had my camera ready to get this shot. She is such a girl!

Jayla running through the sprinklers.

More fun playing with the toys.

More FUN in the SUN

So this is what we do when Daddy is at work all day long...we go boating! Jayla likes boating and would always clap and cheer whenever anyone would get up on the wakeboard. Her favorite thing to do is to ride in the bow of the boat with the wind in her face while she watches the water. I had a lot of fun watching her get so excited about everything.

Swimming at the BIG pool

I took Jayla to the kiddie pool by our house. It has slides and a playground in the water to play on. Jayla was mesmerized by all of the kids EVERYWHERE!! She just sat in the shallow end for a half hour and she would not move because she wanted to watch all of the other kids. She would occasionally clap her hands and squeal in delight at all of the excitement. Jayla also got her first KISS. A little 5 year old boy spotted Jayla and started walking towards her. He then gave her a "smack" right on the cheek. It was really cute. Even after we had been at the pool for 3 hours and Jayla was tired and hungry, she still threw a fit when we finally had to go. She had so much FUN!!

Puppet Show

I took Jayla to a puppet show at the library. She loved it!! Well...she loved looking at all of the kids. Notice how she is always looking back at the crowd and not at the puppet show. Afterward she kept running after all of the other little kids. She wants to be a big kid so bad and has so much socializing with all of the other kids.

Scrubbing the Tub

So I was brushing my teeth the other day when in walks Jayla with a rag that she had stolen out of the linen closet. She then started to scrub the bathtub with the rag. I couldn't believe it! She must have seen me clean the bathroom sometime so she thought she would try it out too. She is too observant... and yes we have a pink tub and a pink sink, Michael's favorite color.

Happy Birthday

We went out to dinner to celebrate Michael's birthday! You know you've been married for too long when it takes you a second to remember how old your spouse is going to be. It was fun getting together we only wish that the rest of the family was able to come.

I have known Michael for the past 7 years! We have been married for 5 of those years!! It has gone by fast and I am looking forward to the years to come. I am grateful for him!

Happy 4th of July

We had a barbecue in our backyard for the 4th of July. My parents gave us a new barbecue grill!! We are really excited to put it to use this summer. We are so grateful for the sacrifices that men and women of the armed forces have made for us (and continue to make for us) so that we can enjoy the simple things in life.

Here are the boys playing catch.


Jayla wanted to be in the middle of all of the action so she stole the soccer ball.

Michael carrying Jayla to the park so that we can watch the fireworks and play more games.

Jayla playing with grandma. We turned her pool over to drain after cleaning it... and she thought that it was just as fun to climb on the bottom of it as it was to swim in it.