24th of July Extravaganza! Part 1

One of my favorite holidays of the summer is Utah's Pioneer Day on the 24th of July. The day usually includes a race, a parade, barbeques and fireworks. This year followed suit and was one of the most fun days of the summer yet.

The day started off with the traditional Deseret News 10k. Even though at the time of the race I was 16 1/2 weeks pregnant, I wasn't going to let that stop me from running one of my favorite races. I went really slow and just enjoyed taking it easy.

My cousin Annie did amazing this year. She finished a good 11 minutes faster than me. That just tells you how slow I was, and how fast she was. I miss running with her and was so proud of how awesome she did. My mom also ran the 10k and rocked it. 

Although I was much slower this year, I still finished under an hour and felt great the entire time. It was just the beginning of an awesome day. 

24th of July Extravaganza! Part 2

Shortly after the race ended I met up with family for the 24th Of July Pioneer Day parade.

I LOVE parades. 

Who doesn't? 

I love how people sleep on the parade route overnight to claim their perfect spot. 

I love how eating hot dogs at 8:00 a.m. is totally ok because you're watching a parade. 

I love seeing the excitement of seeing kids wave to people on the floats. 

I love how a parade brings out ALL walks of life. 

This year's Pioneer Day parade did not disappoint. 

Some of the highlights included:

Hanging out with my niece and nephews who were in town from the East Coast...

Ian has the sweetest smile, this was the best picture I got of Posey, and Everett is still learning the difference between smiling and clenching his teeth. 

and spending time with these lovely ladies...

Mandy, Posey, Grandma Wynn and my mom. Four generations of amazing women.

Other highlights...

Seeing Everett and our cousin Victoria wave to EVERYONE, seriously EVERYONE on the parade route. 

Seeing my mom's cousin Jim Winder who is a sheriff. 

He pointed, smiled and waved at our family. We felt famous and cool for knowing someone in the parade.

All the unique people that a parade brings out...

I have no comments on these pictures, I think the pictures alone say enough.

Seeing my cute cousins Olivia and Camille in the parade was a real treat.

Poor Camille, she was wearing a long sleeve dark dress that went down to her ankles in 90 degree weather. 

Even Spider-Man made an appearance...

Bagpipers provided excellent music.

I love bagpipers. Really I do. 

One of my favorite moments was when the American Troops walked through. All the crowd stood, cheered and clapped. There was a real sense of UNITY among everyone. 

There might have been some tears shed, I'm pregnant, what can I say? Things get to me these days.

I had so many more pictures of the glorious parade but I think you get the idea. It was fantastic.

Do you like parades?

What parades have you been to?

Did you know before Mike was married to me he had never been to a parade? 

Shocking, I know!

24th of July Extravaganza! Part 3

The rest of Pioneer Day was spent playing with water in the backyard with these yard apes...

Ian was the engineer behind making sure the water machine worked properly. 

Ian is so creative, I can't wait to see what he does with his life. 

Everett had to have a ball of each color in each hand at all times.

 He has the sweetest face but doesn't he just look like trouble? Love him.

Grace was too busy picking flowers and finding potato bugs to get wet.  

I can't get enough of this girl.

Although it doesn't look like it in this picture, 

Will smiled and laughed at the kids all afternoon.

I love Pioneer Day. 

I love that Mike was able to come home from work at noon. 

I love how it was a perfect day ending with 

a delicious barbeque and good laughs with family. 

Birthday Boys

Mike and his good friend BJ go way back...


These boys turned 30 within a week of each other, so BJ's wife Katie, who by the way is THE GREATEST, and I threw a SuRpRisE ParTy for these fabulous boys. 

I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures of this fun event, but I guess we were too busy eating, playing volleyball, swimming, catching up with good friends and sharing hilarious memories of these two.  

Happy 30th Birthday Mike and BJ! You're lookin as good as ever! 

BIRTHDAY PARTY

What do you do when the love of your life turns 30?

You throw an excellent party of course....

You make sure to have cheesy decorations,

and delicious food

You invite both sides of the family and make sure all the kids are entertained, 

even if it's simply by a sprinkler that looks like a snake...

You motivate everyone to do really well on a quiz inquiring how well they know the birthday boy by supplying wicked awesome prizes...

(the best picture you can find of the birthday boy in an 8X10 frame, an autographed poster, and and I love Mike mug)

You make sure there are lots of laughs and good times...

And don't forget to serve the cake to the birthday boy first then make sure all the kids get cake before any of the other adults...

PS Can you see my sweet niece Grace going in for the icing on the cake?

Follow these simple steps and you're to be sure to have one awesome party!

This is my favorite picture of the night. 

I love that my 30 year old husband is still very much a kid at heart. 

A few of the highlights of the night for posterity:

Having my sister Mandy and her kids from the CT in town for the party as well as Mike's sister Jamie and her kids up from Las Vegas.

Reading memories of Mike from friends he grew up with.

Watching a video of made of pictures and interviews of family members.

Having Katherine take amazing photos and capturing the feeling of the night perfectly.

30

Happy 30th birthday to the man of my dreams! 

30 years of fun, hard work, and many amazing accomplishments! 

Baby Walker due January 3, 2010.

More than 14 weeks along and feeling great.

We couldn't be more excited!