4th of July Traditions

Tradition has us waking up early on the 4th to get a prime spot for the Freedom Parade in Provo. We've been sitting in the same spot for the last 8 years. My family has been going to this parade every year (missing a few here or there) for as long as I can remember. I have some great childhood memories of this day. I love that this tradition keeps going and that my kids get to share the experience. If any of you think that parades are boring, you should sit with our group. We keep things "interesting". If you're curious how, come with us next year...

I got a little picture happy this year... enjoy!We got rained on a bit but I prefer a bit of rain over the heat. Mary KayAunt Sommer brought bubbles for the kids. They kept Lucy busy.Isabelle and Emma BelleMore bubble funLucy was sooo cute. She waved at everything.Emma, Trinity, Millie, & BridgerSuper Fan! Emma and BridgerAfter the parade, we went to my mom's house for a traditional 4th BBQ, water slides, and balloon fight. The kids played for hours and hours. Considering how early we woke them up and how much junk they ate, they were very well behaved all day. It was bliss. Trampoline fun

The kids (some of them anyway) Dave, Millie, Sommer, Emma, Bridger, & TrinityThe Fuchs FamilyUsSparklers and fire works in the backyard. We ended the day with root bear floats while we watched Pleasant Grove's fireworks in my mom's backyard. It was a great day!

Father's Day

Brent is the BEST dad around. I'm not biased or anything. Ask just about anybody and they will tell you it's true. In fact, a huge reason why I even agreed to marry the guy was because I knew that he would be a great dad by the way I saw him treat his nephew Tyler. He was always gushing about him and pretty much wouldn't shush about the kid. It got to be pretty annoying after a while... But I realized then, that if he was this in love with his nephew, how much more he would be in love with his own kids. Lucky for me I was right. He ALWAYS puts family first. I love him for that...

Brent is the real domestic diva in our house. He bakes cookies or invents some other delicious treat almost every Sunday.

Father's Day pics with the girls... Lucy was not into the idea. We made the rounds after church to visit all our Dad's. We didn't get to see my dad because he was working, but we sure missed him. I made these "clever" little presents for our Dads. The tag reads, "Have a rootin tootin Father's Day". Sometimes something so tacky becomes classy. Needless to say they were a hit!

Papa CurtGrandpa BobGrandpa SteveI love it that we have so many Dads in our life. They are always around when we need them or when we just want to have some fun. What would we do without them?

We love you

Happy Father's day!

Sunriver

Our vacation was very casual and relaxing. Sunriver is beautiful. It was a great week. Our days were spent playing with the kids at parks, pools, tennis courts, and bike trails. We had so much fun that I think we'll try and go back at Thanksgiving or Christmas and enjoy the skiing. The highlight of the tip... The never ending supply of gummy worms!
The inner kid of Brent couldn't resist tree climbing. I really did marry a man-boy!



The inner kid of Bob & Val couldn't resist tether balling.

We spent a lot of time at the park with the girls..

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Unfortunately, Isabelle can't swim yet. She's a 5 year old swim lesson drop out!

Although it appears that Emma is drowning, she's really swimming quite well.

Lucy is a daredevil! She used the slide behind her as a diving board. She climbed to the top and jumped off. After she hit her head on the way down, you'd think she would have learned her lesson.

Playing tennis was my personal favorite activity. Unfortunately, the rain kept us from playing more.
Brent is a very skilled tennis player. He started Emma on some basic lessons and has promised to do more this summer. She seemed to pick it up pretty well.
More park fun...Relaxing in the hot tubWe've been home now for 5 days and I still haven't got into a summer routine. I'm having a hard time getting any "mom work" done. We've managed to avoid doing chores all week and instead we've hung out at parks or friends houses everyday. Next week I'll bring structure back to the family. But for now I'm still pretending we're on vacation.