July-ness

Wow- July has already come and gone! Summer will be over before we know it- sad. Here are a few more fun memories we collected this month- enjoy!!!

Garrett and Tori were not happy to be stuck on top of the changing table!

Wait, they weren't really that sad!

Garrett is turning into Tori's little copy cat- so funny to watch him follow her around!!!

We made our own popsicles- yummy!

Even Tori ate them, and she doesn't typically like cold things!

We have a new tradition when bath time is over. We wrap Garrett in his towel and he asks to "run!" It totally cracks us up every night to see the towel flying as he dashes into the kids' room to get dressed!!!

A favorite place to hang out- I guess a shelf is as good a chair as anything else!

A princess must always be decked out (shoes included)- even when taking a nap!

Tori has become Garrett's teacher- I absolutely love it!!!

Thanks for some great times July! It's just so sad that you had to go so quickly!

Our Big Guy!!!

Garrett has been sleeping horribly lately. We have tried pretty much anything and everything we could think of and nothing seemed to help. So, out of sheer desperation, Jared took off the side of Garrett's crib two days ago. I know it doesn't make any sense, but it has helped so much! Garrett still isn't the best sleeper ever, but he is waking up much less each night- hurrah for me and Jared!!!

Here's Garrett checking out his new "big boy" bed for the first time!

And then making a silly face!

In case you were wondering, this is how he slept that first night!

And this was nap time yesterday!

And this was last night!

One of these days, he may just figure out how to sleep in his bed!!!

5 Years!!!

Thursday marked our 5th wedding anniversary!!! Since Jared was at Scout Camp, I wasn't expecting to celebrate in any way until he got home today. Much to my surprise, our dear next door neighbor came over after work on Thursday and presented me with these beautiful roses! Jared did a great job making sure our actual anniversary was special, even if he couldn't be here in person!!!

We finally got to celebrate our anniversary this evening! Tori and Garrett went to play at the Toney's so Jared and I could go out to dinner. We went to On the Border for the first time- so yummy! When we got home, we started a new tradition- we celebrated our family's birthday! (Thanks so much for passing this fabulous idea along Ben and Lisa!)
Tori and Garrett were so excited that they got to open "family birthday presents!" We gave the kids Cars 2...

 

...and Mater's Tall Tales!

Then we watched a little bit while we ate ice cream in fancy cups!!!

I think they both liked their new movie!!!

It was an incredible night and made our anniversary mean so much more than Jared and I just going out to dinner!!! Happy 5 year anniversary Jared- here's to an eternity more!!!

Drive In Movie

This morning, Tori had her very first Primary activity! First up was decorating her very own car! Garrett was a big help to both her and to Benson as well!

Benson and Tori with their finished cars! Most of the decorations were on the hoods, so it's a bit hard to see them, but they were awesome!!!

Tori and Benson "racing" their cars!!! 

After all the kids got to race their cars, they each got popcorn and a drink and got to watch a movie in their cars! The movie featured all of them talking about things that make them special! It was so fun to see the reactions as each of the kids' pictures would pop up and they would start talking! For the last portion of the activity, the kids got to play little games and win prizes.

Garrett didn't care so much about the prizes, but he did find a new hat!

Hurrah for a fun first Primary activity- thanks to all who put in many hours to pull it off! We really enjoyed it!!!

Lunch Bunch

This year we have discovered a wonderful thing in our area called, "lunch bunch!" Basically, local businesses or groups sign up and provide free lunch for the kids at local parks throughout June and July. Talk about fantastic! It provides a great outing at a park and you don't have to worry about packing a lunch because it is provided- just great all the way around! And to make it even better, we have been meeting up with 5 or 6 others families in our ward for each lunch bunch- built in chat time for all the parents!!! Here are a few fun pictures from our lunch bunching this summer!

Garrett loved climbing all over this tree- it was the perfect height for him!

Tori has tackled many a slide this summer!

Garrett, although a little more cautious, has also tried out some great slides!

What a cute girl!

Tori with our new friends Anna and Benson!

This boy is growing up- I'm not sure I am ready for that yet!

Checking out his awesome sandals!

What a perfect Tori-sized bench!

Garrett is starting to get so adventuresome!

Yeah, going down the slide together- this doesn't happen very often!!!

This slide is one of his favorites!

Thanks for all the fun times Lunch Bunch- we hope to catch up with you again next summer!!!

To the Temple We Go!

Today we made a trek down to the Louisville Temple with our friends the Toneys! It worked out splendidly! Jared and I went in first, while Ben and Lisa watched all the kids outside. We were able to do sealings today- which was wonderful since we will be celebrating our anniversary next week!!! Once we were done, we switched places and took our turn watching the kids!

Tori and Benson played mostly with this soccer ball!

 While Anna and Garrett played with this one- it worked out great!

Then we discovered the Scouts' canoes- what fun things to climb on and explore!

 Anna, Jared, Benson, and Tori going for a little walk!

This is my favorite picture from the day- Garrett, Anna, Benson, and Tori!!!

So glad we threw in both balls- it really helped keep everyone entertained!!!

Attending the temple always makes for a wonderful day- and today was no exception!  And it was so nice to share the day with Ben, Lisa, Benson, and Anna- thanks for letting us come with you!!!

4th of July

For our 4th of July celebrations we joined a bunch of friends at Bishop Weiss' work for fun games, yummy food, and, of course, an absolutely amazing fireworks display!

Tori and Garrett got pretty good at corn hole!

Two years ago, we got Tori her princess chair for this exact same event. So, Daddy went on a mission to find Garrett a chair for tonight. He found an awesome cars chair- which Garrett was tickled to pieces with!!!

 Tori loved all the yummy food- especially the popcorn and rice crispy treats!

 Garrett and Daddy's motorcycle ride!!!

I'm not sure if Garrett liked it or not!

Tori was picking up on ladder golf, Garrett was content to try and eat the golf balls!

Sigh- our children have never, ever liked sparklers. But each year we try again in hopes that one year they will realize how neat they really are and enjoy it. This is how we started out with Garrett- complete terror!

And this was as close as we could get Tori to the sparkler- at least she was smiling!

 But, after much coaxing, we finally got Garrett to at least smile and try and grab a sparkler!

 And, miracle of miracles, we got Tori to actually hold a sparkler!!!

Hurrah, Tori likes sparklers!!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!  I love that we have a day set apart to remember, and focus on, all the wonderful freedoms we enjoy in this country each day! I know that I take them for granted, but I really am so grateful for them!!!