~Let Freedom Ring~

I love the 4th of July and I love that there is so much going on in celebration of the 4th of July in our small hometown. There is always a street dance with live bands going on the night before and a rodeo, but we always go to the rodeo on the 4th of July so we can watch the best firework show around that follows the rodeo that night. On the 3rd of July we always take the kids to the Aurora park where they have all the bounce houses and bounce slides set up and Rylee performs her cute mini cheer dance. After the fun, we stay to watch the fireworks at the Aurora park with grandma and papa Schaugaard. Everyone came to watch Rylee perform, there was grandma Dean and Tom, grandma and papa Schaugaard, and grandma Shauna.She did such a good job and looked so cute out there.
On the 4th of July, we start the day off by taking the kids to all the fun little games, races, and lots of treats. I took the kids on the fire engine ride and Dax was so scared when I climbed on there with him. Brett didn't come with and since he is such a daddy's boy and was afraid he was reaching out for Brett crying. He cried for the first few blocks, then he was fine and had fun. Although he wasn't loving it when the siren would turn on. Then we can't forget to watch the grease poll; where teams get together and climb a wooden poll covered in crisco. Of course it has an incentive, the poll is also covered in money, and the higher you can get, the more money you will get. It is crazy watching them climb on top of each others heads and shoulders to get to the top. After the games, we went and had lunch and then got ready for the parade. Rylee got to ride in the parade this year with the mini cheer group. She has fun doing that kind of stuff and gets so excited. Dax loved the parade and chasing after candy. I had to get out there and get candy for Rylee, which I don't mind since I am like a kid still when it comes to all this fun holiday stuff. After the prade we went home and got changed into warmer clothes and loaded up our stuff for the rodeo. The best part about the rodeo is always the bull rides, those have always been our favorite. But the reason we really love to come is for the best firework show around. I love the music they play that sets the mood for this whole celebration and what its all about, along with some extremely awesome fireworks. And there is nothing better than watching them from the hill and having them literally explode right above you.
I just love this holiday. It seems like everyone that has moved away comes back during this holiday, so its nice to see old faces around.

It's MATOR

On our way to the Manti Pool we saw Mator at the Gunnison theatre. It was so cute and because Dax absolutely loves Cars, I had to stop.

Fun in the Sun...

I took the kids to the Manti pool for the first time this summer. They had a blast! At first, Dax wasn't sure what to think about the whole thing, but after just a few minutes he was loving it. It is so nice over there because it starts out shallow and gets deeper, like a beach would be, plus it has the waterslide, the part where the water moves you around fast, and basketball hoop. So it works out for all ages. Dax crawled around in the shallow end the entire time and was loving it, but by the end of the day he had wore two raw sores on each knee from crawling on the cement bottom. Rylee had so much fun floating all over in her life jacket and even went down the waterslide. It was a fun day spent with my sister and her kids.

Lets Go Fishin'

We took the kids camping with Brett's parents and grandma and grandpa Schaugaard at Forsyth and the kids were so excited because they were going to be able to fish for the first time. And not just any fishing, but they got to actually fish from the boat, which they thought was absolutely the neatest thing ever. Camping is always fun and the kids had a great time and absolutely loved fishing and just riding in the boat. I can't wait to take them again soon.
The next morning we got up and went on a really long four wheeler ride. Of course, both kids cried to ride with their dad, and once again I found myself bribing Rylee to ride with me. When it came time for Dax to take a turn with me, he cried and tried to lift his leg over and jump off to go with dad. Yes it makes me sad....I swear I am a fun driver too! Rylee thought it was pretty neat that we went on a trail named "Riley trail" and by the end of the ride Dax was sound asleep on the four wheeler. It was a fun camping trip.

Family BBQ

I love summer days....I love hanging out and having a BBQ....and even more, I love having a BBQ in the summer with all my family there. Its just so nice to hang out, laugh, joke, eat, and just enjoy each other. It doesn't happen often enough with all of our busy lives. Mark was in town visiting from Hawaii so we made sure to plan it for that weekend. It was a lot of fun! All the cousins get along so well and have such a great time together. Hearing them run around and giggle is music to my ears. I think back when I was little and I grew up so close to all my cousins. We had family get togethers all the time and looking back now, that is where most of my memories as a child come from. I hope our kids can be close growing up and create some fun memories like I did as a child.