taylorsville dayzz 2019

this year we did taylorsville dayzz with just our little family. we still did all the traditional things like dinner at red robin beforehand, matching shirts for the girls, a slew of candy from winco to go around, glow sticks, dancing, and lots of cuddling during the fireworks.

adalyn was especially excited this year! she wanted to wear her 'cherry shirt' so badly, eat the pink gummy bears she picked out, and watch fireworks. 

this was james and my 12th year going to taylorsville dayzz together. one of our longest running family traditions!

the girls loved dancing to the live music, doing cartwheels, and eating lots of candy!

adi's reaction to the fireworks was my favorite part! she reacted to almost every single one of them with so much excitement! fireworks are definitely her jam this summer!

sadly, when we got back to the van...we discovered that adi's favorite blanket (since 6 months old) was gone. she was sad. james and i were heart broken. we had to replace it a week later. luckily, she's mostly ok with it now!

more summer + t-ville dayzz

the girls started swimming lessons a few weeks into summer and they couldn't wait to get started! those swimming days mixed with their tumbling days made for some tired, and sometime grumpy, girls...

we've enjoyed backyard hangs with cousins and snacks...and that big ol unicorn there...

i wish this picture wasn't so blurry! this is adi on her favorite ride at lagoon, 'the whale ride'. if you ask her about lagoon, she will most definitely tell you about this ride. look how happy she is! 

my parents always attend a superintendent's conference up in beautiful midway and this year we all got to join in for a family picnic up there. it was beautiful and fun to spend time together.

last day of swimming lessons...kendall still asks when she's going back.

the end of june brings one of our longest standing family summer traditions, taylorsville dayzz fireworks! it was so fun to have my in laws all join us this year! the more the merrier!

the fireworks were awesome and the girls were exhausted on the way home. good thing because the following week brought the 4th of july!!!

goodbye june.

hello july.

we're happy you're here. no one more than brooklyn though. it's FINALLY her birthday month and she's counting down the days.

june was definitely a good one though. summer in full swing and enjoying everything outdoors that we could. i'd say we made the most of june. here's a little recap:

ward camp out. i've never been in a ward that does this, but i'm down with the tradition. we got up there a little later than we planned but the drive was beautiful and the girls were asleep. james and i chowed down on some in-n-out on the way up and we were happy campers.

james was nice and let me have my way about where our tent was set up. it would have been really easy for him to set it up in this big field right across from where everyone else was, but i really wanted to be close to the bathroom AND my friend and her family. so he endured big tall weeds, pokies, and tree branches. but our tent looked nice and cozy there. i thought.

then it was campfire songs and stories. brooklyn loved running around with her little friends and getting filthy. as it started to get super dark, i headed back to the tent to put keni down for the night. much to my surprise, as soon as i had done that it was lights out. james and brooklyn met me at the tent and everyone was heading to bed. it was 10 PM. but james and i were both ok with it. we were exhausted. both girls slept pretty dang well, and there was a nice big delicious breakfast awaiting us before we headed back home. i'm guessing we'll be going again next year.

later that same day, we met up with my family in murray for a little picnic of sorts for kayla's birthday. it was kfc and fruit pizza for all. it was stifling hot but the food tasted good. 

afterwards, we all made the quick trip over to taylorsville dayzz for some fireworks (and people watching). it was so fun to have everyone there. we mostly just sat on the blankets and visited (and people watched). it was just fun to be all together.

this was kendall's first experience (really) with fireworks and she was in heaven. she sat still, eyes to the sky, for a good ten minutes. then she started pointing and saying, "ahh, ahh". oh she loved them. the rest of us loved them too as always. it was so awesome to be there, watching fireworks, with so many people that i love. the girls were so good to boot.

this was our 7th time at the t-ville fireworks. we missed a couple years in there, but we've loved having it as a little family tradition since before our family officially started.

the day-to-day has been full of swimming (and BBQ-ing anything and everything). we either go to the bountiful pool, seven peaks, or just our good ol backyard. the girls love all three. so being able to just stay home here and there makes it a little easier on this mama.

night swimming is definitely one of my faves. the sun isn't so hot and it's just that magical time of evening. ya know what i'm talking about? i love it. it just screams summer.

and yes, both girls have their own pool, BUT the small one is technically the 'hot tub'. next summer will be better for keni to use the bigger pool. she's just a little too short right now.

i got my july 4th patriotic decor up in the middle of june but added a few things this week. i love living in utah so that my decor can stay up all month long. and two holidays to celebrate in july?! come on! anything and everything red white and blue or patriotic.

 (i had my sister make me this print AND i love it. thanks googs!)

along with my watermelon candy that i always have out, i wanted something else to put out this month so i decided on salt water taffy. first of all, i thought it'd be good because i wouldn't really be tempted by it. wrong. and secondly, it screams july to me. it's basically the epitome of parade candy.

and because it's the first of july, i dressed my girls in patriotic colors (and matching). i'm hoping to do this every day for the rest of the week, but it'll be interesting because i don't have that much to work with. we have some fun plans for friday and saturday and can't wait to celebrate our nation's birthday. brooklyn can hardly handle all the talk of fireworks and parades and it makes me so happy that she loves these holidays and summer just like me.

h a p p y  first  o f  j u l y !!!

summer kick-off weekend.

just another weekend recap...

on thursday, my mom came to have her first sleepover at cream gables. we were so excited to have her. especially brooklyn. it was grilled salmon, red potatoes, corn, and some other grilled veggies for dinner and then to the kaysville dollar theatre to see the croods (totally cute). 

after the movie, we stopped to see brooklyn's most favorite animal attraction just a few streets down from the theatre. the llamas. she loves them. but only at a great great distance. funny girl.

friday brought shopping (with my mom and sister), super hot weather, and some more shopping. after those two left (after a short short visit), brooklyn and i anxiously awaited james' arrival home so we could pack up and head down to the t-ville fireworks. seven years and counting for james and i. this was brooklyn's second. third if you count in the womb. 

it did not disappoint. we had a nice relaxing evening, filled with sugar and fireworks. it really seems to be the kick-off to our summer every year. so thank you again t-ville dayzz for startin' our summer off right!

(brooklyn's candy of choice and a new family addiction: reeses pieces) 

even though we got home late and were exhausted from the heat and sunshine, we woke up saturday morning ready to stick to the plans we'd made the night before: slc farmers market, seven peaks, and our ward bbq. 

we love going to the farmer's market in downtown slc. we headed down there earlier hoping to beat the heat. we didn't. we were melting as soon as we stepped out of the car. but we loved the marketing nonetheless. besides the little tantrum brooklyn threw, knocking our $2 cookie out of my hand and to the ground, it was a smooth little trip.

(i had to. and no, we didn't try the kombucha) 

after being out in that scorching heat for almost an hour, we were ready to hit the pool. we hadn't renewed our pass of all passes yet, so we had that lovely little chore to do before we could actually get in the water. brooklyn didn't think that was very fun. she did, however, love getting her own id card this year. she's so proud. 

luckily, we had some friends, the boyers, there to play with us. james and stephen took the girls wherever their little hearts desired, and jenny and i were able to sit and chat and dote over cute little baby cooper. unfortunately, i have no picture of cooper. but oh those cheeks. take my word, they were delicious.

we said our goodbyes, with promises to "do this again soon", and we were off to get ready for our ward bbq. it turned out to be a really fun hot night. did i say hot? brooklyn loved doing crafts, eating the hamburgers and cake, swimming with her buddy shane (in their diapers), and james and i enjoyed visiting with friends in our ward. 

luckily, shane and his mommy and daddy weren't sick of us by the end of the night and they were nice enough to invite us over for sparklers and ice cream. brooklyn was in heaven. sparklers and ice cream in her jammies = heaven. having shane there was a total bonus. it was definitely a nice way to round out our 'summer kick-off' weekend. 

(watching their daddies light off some little fireworks) 

relaxing, food, and more relaxing is how we do our sundays (after church of course), and this one was absolutely no different. we ate all of our goodies from the market and then had j & c over for brownie sundaes. 

we started hammering out our plans for the fourth of july. we take fireworks seriously at cream gables, so the fourth of july is a holiday ranked right up there at the top. we can't wait for all the festivities on thursday, and you better believe we'll be dressing festive all week long.

 h a p p y  j u l y  1st !

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