The week of the 4th

Adobe gives it's employees the entire week of the 4th of July off. So we had a wonderful week together!! It was so much fun to be able to spend so much time together as a family. WE LOVED IT!!

We started out the week with a rodeo (compliments of Adobe) on SATURDAY night. We went to the Lehi Roundup Rodeo. We had a great time with Rex and Tami. The PA system was loud....even for me. Poor Avery didn't really appreciate it very much. She actually did really well though. We were proud of her. 

 

Kiley got Avery these adorable Jessie cowgirl boots and I just couldn't resist putting them on her in preparation for the rodeo. They are of course gigantic...but she looked so cute!! Momma's little cowgirl!

Our next big event was the Orem Owls game on MONDAY night. We had a lot of fun with the Wright side of the family. The whole gang was there, even Grandma and Grandpa joined us. 

Our Owls made us proud with a big W and we had an all around wonderful evening.

 

 Avery's first baseball game. Again...it was a little loud, but Avery took it like a champ. She's so sweet.

 Here's the whole crowd. Grandma is hidden behind Cheri, but other than that...I think we all got in there! After the game, we saw our first fireworks of the week! Avery did surprisingly well. She slept through them all. We were pretty worried about the noise, but she did great! Once again...she's a champ!

TUESDAY was the day we tried to go hike Timp Cave. But...tickets were sold out. So we drove the Alpine Loop went for a hike at Big Springs instead. We had a wonderful time showing Bob, Emily and Katie the beautiful place that we call home. I think this was possibly Avery's favorite activity of the week. She LOVED IT! She was all smiles while we hiked. Hopefully that means she will enjoy it as she gets older too.

 As we came out of Provo Canyon that day, we discovered that Alpine was on fire as we saw smoke billowing over the mountains. We are so glad that Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Jan were ok!!

The 4th of July fell on WEDNESDAY. We started the day out with the Freedom Festival Parade in Provo. We feel so blessed to be living in this wonderful country and to enjoy the freedoms that we do. 

I nearly got emotional (surprise surprise) while watching the fireworks this year. I am so grateful to be able to raise my sweet little Avery in America. How blessed we are!

 We got some earplugs for Avery so that the cannons and the sirens wouldn't scare her too much. We think they made her look like Shrek! So funny.

 In the evening, we all went over to the MTC field to watch the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire. It was a great firework show! Every year it seems they have new fireworks to amaze me with. I absolutely love watching them! It seems like nearly every firework becomes my new favorite. I guess I just like them all.

 This was Avery for the first part of the fireworks. 

This picture shows the adorable little chub on her legs. I LOVE it! She's getting so big.

 This is Avery during the second part of the fireworks! After she woke up and ate, she loved watching them! We were far enough away that the noise wasn't bothering us, and she just loved looking at all of the bright colors. This picture also shows one of Avery's favorite things to as of late...chew on EVERYTHING! She especially likes to chew on burp cloths, blankets, and her clothes. She has started drooling like crazy! It was fun for me to watch her watch the fireworks. Josh even had to remind me to watch the fireworks myself so that I wouldn't miss anything.

I love my family!!!

On THURSDAY, Josh and I took Lynette, Bob, Emily and Katie for a walk up the Canyon. Here we are at Bridal Veil Falls. Katie and Emily loved taking their shoes off and walking in the water. This was the first real waterfall they had ever seen and it was fun to share in their excitement. We truly live in a beautiful place. This is less than 10 minutes from our home.

On Thursday evening, we went to visit Grandma Bingham in Alpine. Courtney also came just after arriving from Washington DC. We were so happy to see her! This is a picture of the beautiful rainbow as seen from her back porch. It was honestly one of the best rainbows I have ever seen! You can't tell from this picture, but it was actually two complete rainbows! I was grateful for this little reminder of our Heavenly Father's love for us.



We finally come to FRIDAY! Courtney came over and did a whirlwind unpack/repack at our house. She was only there for a short time, but we loved spending time with here before she takes off to Taiwan. We miss having our Nini-poo in Utah with us! We'll be excited to get her back in a couple of weeks.

 Friday was also the night for the infamous Culdesac of Fire! It seems to grow every year. This year, Josh manned one of the BBQ's...and I'm not sure he has any hair left on his hands....

 Avery and Grandma Tami. So sweet.

 My Dad and Brooklyn came for the very end of the party. I think they were there for the best of the fireworks...short as they may have been. Everyone laughs at how Dad always shows up just in time to clean up, but they were grateful for the help. My Dad is a great example to me of selfless service. He is always ready to lend a helping hand, in whatever capacity he can. Thanks for teaching me the value of hard work Dad!! We got to have Brooklyn stay with us for the weekend before taking her to the BYU soccer camp. We love having her in our home! She is such a sweetheart. 

This is how my SATURDAY morning started....Thanks Avery!! We have a "changing station" on our bathroom counter. You can see the blue edge of it in the top left hand corner of the picture. I had Avery's diaper off while I was changing her. One big grunt later...this is what the wall looked like. It's a good thing I've learned to just laugh. I had to take a picture so I could show Josh (he wasn't home) but I decided that maybe other people would get a laugh out of it too, so here it is!

 We got to spend Saturday morning in Alpine with my Dad, Brooklyn and Grandma and Grandpa Bingham. Here's an adorable picture of Avery with her grandpa. We were so glad to be able to spend a little bit of time with him before he rushed back to Idaho. 

So that was our week in a nutshell. We had a wonderful time. Needless to say, it was hard for me to send Josh back to work on Monday morning. I view it as a wonderful blessing to have had him home with me for an entire week. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and loved spending time with them this week.  Happy week of the 4th everyone! I hope yours was as wonderful as ours.