{Fireworks}

Sunday night we did our fireworks celebration.

I really look forward to it each year because my kids
just love it, and because it always ends up being a big neighborhood party!

The ladies, patiently waiting for the sun to go down.

Just a few of the kids who were present.
By the end of the night we had some long time
family friends come over too.
I wish I would have gotten a picture of all the chaos
and all the beautiful people who came.
We have some fun friends!

We sure love these neighborhood kids!

I adore this picture of my girls learning to play
'down by the banks', because I remember doing the exact
same thing. It melted my heart.Sparklers! Yay!It was such a great night. We bought
our cheap fireworks and then watched the big beautiful
ones that people just a few blocks away bought for the rest of the
night. They were amazing and it was a great way to end the weekend!

{Checking them off}

I'm gonna ask you first, to forgive me
for the poor quality of all the pictures below.
They are awful.

That being said, in between
swim lessons,
girls camp,
golf camp,
the kitchen remodel,
and our vacation,
I'm just happy to have a few more things
checked off our danged list,
even with ugly, and in some cases,
no pictures to prove it.

#2
Go to the Fun Park
Travis took them while I was
at mutual.
Yes, he's the best dad ever.
I hate that place...


#19
Make Homemade Ice-cream.
We've never done it before, and it
was sooo good.
And it helps explain while I may never meet
my goal weight. :)
Delish!

#14
Sleep in a tent.
Our lovely neighbors put this out for their girls
after we all did fireworks one night and quickly learned
that if you put up a tent,
the entire neighborhood will ask to sleep in it!
It was adorable though, to see all the cute friends
piled in for games and a late night.
I was shocked that they all made it till morning!

#19
Family Home Evening

Okay, let the judging begin.
We used to be really good at FHE.
But we kind of lost our mojo,
and our sweet kids had to have us put it on the list
for it to get done.
(Trav calls this post the blog o shame!)

That being said, we now are revved
up to keep our FHE's a weekly thing!

Trav planned a great lesson on tithing,
and after our kids asking why we
were stealing their hard earned
'art money'
from their piggy banks, they learned what was needed.
I think.

#22 on our list was to
run through the sprinklers.
They've done it about a million times.
I just always forget to capture it.

And
#23 was to go to lots of parks.
Also done, just without any pics.

I hope we can finish! What's left are some big ones!

{Scam Artists}

These little ladies look sweet,
but they are ruthless and savvy when it comes
to money.

I learned this the hard way.

Yesterday they spent a few hours painting,
and then they said they were going outside to
sale their paintings.

I assumed they were sitting on the curb with
their paintings, and the cute little
for sale sign they painted.

But I was wrong.
Those little monkeys went from house
to house asking people to buy their
paintings, for a dollar each!

And my sweet neighbors bought them.
All!
They made bank.

And came home so proud.

Love this 'sine if your giting a panting'.
I'm sorry neighbors for my little entrepreneurs.
I will watch a little more closely from now on!

{Kitchen Remodel}

It began with the floor.

When we were in Spain our ice maker in
the fridge leaked and damaged a good
chunk of the floor.

They were yellowing, looking pretty ugly,
and now they were lifting due to the damage.
So we made an insurance claim,
and thought we'd get a nice new floor.

(Before)

(After)
They are dark, shiny, and lovely.
I can't even tell you how much I love them.
I asked Travis if it would be strange to lick them.
He said yes....so I just stare at them instead.

(Done by Carpets of America,
recommended by the very kind and talented Jason Jeppson).

I was telling my dear friend Chanelle,
(who has a passion and a knack for designing everything),

about the floors getting done.
She then stayed up all night designing my kitchen
and figuring out a way to get me more space.
I adore Chanelle for dreaming this all up!
She had the brillaint idea of taking the 'L' bar out
of my current workspace, and flipping it to create an
island. She's brialliant I tell ya. If you don't have a
Chanelle in your life, you need one.

(Before)

(After)
All flipped and black! Yum.
Our cabinet work was done by our
very good friend Dave Lund at
Rivermill Cabinets.
They are fabulous.
He is fabulous.
And he is married to Chanelle,
so they are an unfairly talented pair.

Trav's only request through the entire
process was that he was getting a new sink.

(Before)

(After)

We have wanted better lighting in the kitchen for years,
and since we were already doing all the work...
(which seems to be the theme of the entire remodel),
we got us some new lights.

(Before)

(After)
Our kitchen feels so much warmer
and brighter now!
Our lighting was done by Eclipse Electric,
yet another talented friend and neighbor.

Our fridge was pathetic. We bought it used

when we bought the house and it was
quite literally falling apart.

(Before)

(After)
The best part is that the ice maker works
once again! It's divine.
We kept most of our cabinets the same,
except for adding a yummy dark glaze to them.
(Before)

(After)
The glaze just got rid of some of the yellow in the
cabinets and really made them look new again.
It was such a great easy and cheap way to update them.
A few more details.
The new back splash,
which still needs to be caulked...
And we changed a bit of paint.
(The bead board was red before).

We don't really miss this at all.
And are really pleased with the new layout.
I feel spoiled!
(This was my birthday gift from Travis).
I wonder how he'll top it next year...
I'm kidding of course.
Unless he wants to try and top it...
and then I'm totally not kidding.

{#10} Go to yellowstone! {#13} Go Camping {#32} Stay in a Hotel

This past week we spent in Island Park, Id.

with my entire family.

It was heaven.
Perfect weather.
Delicious food.
Beautiful lodging.
And great company!

First we headed to our beautiful cabin.
It slept all 16 of us very comfortably and it was gorgeous!
My type of camping, for sure.

After checking in we decided to go see
Mesa Falls. They were breathtaking!

The next morning we got up bright and early and headed to
Old Faithful.
I couldn't wait to take my kids to Yellowstone.
I have such great memories of my childhood here,
and have so many pictures of my cousins and I
in these same places.

It was something special watching my kids
and their cousins experiencing the same
things. So much fun!

Waiting for Old Faithful to erupt.

Love the awe look on their faces.
They loved it!

All the cousins together.
They are a good looking group!
After Old Faithful we headed to fishing bridge.
Maybe my favorite spot in Yellowstone.
It's just so beautiful!
I love this shot of my dad telling the
kids about the time he got chased by a grizzly at
fishing bridge when he was a young boy.
His love for Yellowstone is infectious.

Then we headed to the mud volcano hot pots.

The buffalo were loving the warm pots and this

once crossed the boardwalk about 2 seconds ahead of us.
We were a tad bit scared...

And after the smelly pots, we headed to the upper falls.
I've never seen the falls quite like this,
they were so powerful and really beautiful!

The next day the boys did some fishing/golfing,
and the girls spent the day shopping in West Yellowstone
for souvenirs and going out to lunch.
I adore the women in my family.
Love this shot of their matching hair dos.
And then the boys met us at the Bear/Wolf discovery center.
Sweet Lucy was exhausted from all our shopping!

The kids loved getting a good glimpse of the bear and wolves.

The next day we headed back into Yellowstone.
Our first stop was at Norris to see some hot pots.

Me and Goose.And then to Mammoth for ice cream.
We all remember doing this with our cousins, so it was
fun to take the kids.

Our goal the entire trip was to see a bear.
We've been so many times, and never have seen a bear,
and were starting to think it was all a myth!
After Mammoth we decided to head to Tower Falls.
We'd heard that this loop was where most of the bears
were being spotted, but were kind of figuring
we were out of luck...

All the sudden the car about 6 in front of us slammed on it's
breaks so hard that it almost caused a little pile up.
I looked out my window to see why he stopped,
and saw something black, and then we all freaked
out a little bit.Sure enough, we got to see a black bear,
right next to the road.
The timing was so perfect because we didn't have
to wait in a traffic jam to see it,
and as Cody and Amy (who were 2 cars behind us)
drove away the bear was heading back into the woods.
We got really lucky, and it made our whole trip.

Then headed to Tower Falls.
We were bummed to see that we couldn't
hike to the bottom because of an
"animal den" on the trail.

We were able to see 2 more grizzlies off in the trees, but
from much farther away.
It was a great to end the trip!
Sure loved spending time with my
silly, rowdy, crazy family.
Love them all!!

(We were able to check off #10-go to Yellowstone,
#13-go camping (This is as close as we come),
and #32-stay in a hotel. (We are running out of time, a cabin is close enough!)