4th of July

This is one of my favorite pictures. For me it captures the perfect 4th of July image.

We started the 4th of July out in Orem this year. We were trying to make it too the balloon festival, but discovered that I had the wrong time and when we got there it was already over. We headed to the Orem Trafalga instead and played some miniature golf and enjoyed some short 4D movies. After that we headed to Thanksgiving Point where we hung around in the crowd and goofed off. Just before the fireworks started to went to Kenny's office and ended up having a fantastic view of the fireworks. It was a perfect Independence day.

I love this picture of my goofy kids.

Look at me mom, I'm so big.

Gracie wanted a turn also.

My singing and dancing girls.

What a good looking kid.

She's a 12 year old goofball.

His face shows what a great day we had.

I typical Gracie face. She's such happy/silly kid.

I'm such a lucky mom.

The fireworks where beautiful.

Happy 4th of July

Fireworks In The Mountains

Watching the fireworks show from the roof of the van.

After our afternoon at Jordanelle we headed to Park City to watch the fireworks. We drove up just as the fireworks were starting. We got a fantastic parking spot, total luck, and quickly got the kids out of the car and put them on top to watch the fireworks show. It was great. I loved the Park City fireworks. There was just something about watching a fireworks show surrounded by the beauty of the mountains. They were amazing and we decided that we need to go back next year. 

It was a beautiful show.

Jordanelle for the 4th

My cute kids on a bridge at Jordanelle Reservoir.

As I said earlier, this summer was a hot one. I for one was not a fan of the heat and when the 4th of July came around I didn't want to go do anything festive because I didn't want to be out in the 100+ heat. We decided we didn't want the holiday to just go to waste so we headed up into the mountains for some cooler air. We've been wanting to go to Jordanelle Reservoir since we moved back to Utah and we thought July 4th would be perfect. We got there late, but still had fun wandering around, playing in the water, and even seeing a water snake. The weather was beautiful and being outside in nature always uplifts me. It was a great way to spend the 4th of July.

We love being silly

Walking in the river.

I do love summertime and summer pictures.

Playing in the river.

Rooftop Fireworks

Getting ready to watch the fireworks on the roof.

July 3rd is the day of the Eaglewood fireworks near our house. We've never wanted to drive up to the golf course to see the fireworks, but we have learned that you can see them from our house. This is our 2nd July in this house and the second time we took to the roof on July 3rd to watch the fireworks. The kids like being on the roof and we like not having to fight the crowds and traffic. 

Happy 4th of July

The fireworks in Bountiful were on the 3rd of July this year.  We had toyed with the idea of taking the kids to  the golf course to see the fireworks, but decided instead to stay home and watch them from the roof.  We put the kids to bed at normal time and then woke them up just before the fireworks started.  We all climbed on the roof and watch the fireworks in the distance.  The kids thought it was sooo cool, after they got used to being on the roof.  It was a hit and a lot easier for us.



We decided the 4th of July would be a great day to head to Seven Peaks. Thinking it would be crowded, we got their early to claim our spot.  To our surprise, there weren't many people there and it turned out to be a wonderful day.  The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins and Kenny and I enjoyed watching them.  We love going to Seven Peaks and it was a great way to spend our nations birthday.

Fireworks

We did the fireworks quickly this time and I must say, with a bunch of little kids in tow, it was the perfect way to see them.  We arrived down at the Greenway just before dark, had a little birthday cake thingy for Dan, and then watched the fireworks.  We were able to get a pretty good seat and the kids were so excited.  Too bad the fireworks lasted too long.  I loved it, but about 3/4 of the way into them all the kids were bored and wanted to go home. Really!  My kids are so weird.  I guess I'll have to work on that.

Gracie enjoying the show.

Fireworks!  Pretty!

Sarah and I watching the fireworks.  Adam enjoyed them as long as someone was holding him.

Because the kids weren't too interested in watching the fireworks, we decided to pack up and be ready to leave just at the end.  It's amazing the difference it made.  We had very little traffic problems and were able to get home in record time.  All was going so well until about 5 minutes from the house when Kenny realized he no longer had his phone.  He was sure he had it at the fireworks so, he dropped us off at the house and I put the kids to bed while he went back to look for it.  Amazingly enough he found the phone, unharmed, right where we had been sitting.  It must have fallen out of his pocket or something.  We were so happy to have it back and though the kids claimed boredom during the fireworks show, they all loved it and want to go next year.

Picnic With The Huckleberries

The Newbry cousins (minus 4)

Top Row: Missi, Savannah, Sarah Kate, Gracie, Hannah

Bottom Row: Cadence, Gabbi, Zack, Alli, Ben

Missing: Nikki, Maddi, Travis, Trent

The 5th of July we were still in Grace and April (my sister-in-law) thought it would be fun to go into the mountains and have a picnic. After trying and failing to get to some spring that apparently no one has been to in a long time (the road was overgrown with weeds) we decided to just drive up to where we go huckleberry picking every fall. The road is a dirt road that we've traveled many times and is not overgrown with weeds. It was a great idea until just short of the huckleberry turn when we heard a pop. We continued on to the turnoff and discovered our tire was flat. While Kenny went to work changing the tire, Helen (my mother-in-law) Mindy (another sister-in-law) and I took the kids for a walk up the road. They loved it and were disappointed and the swiftness of Daddy's tire changing ability. In no time we were headed down to a nice meadow where we had our picnic.

Changing the tire. Better him than me. :)

Sarah Kate, Hannah, and cousin Gabbi heading up the mountain.

BenBen being a boy with a stick.

Hannah and Grandma Newbry on our hike.

Our mountain picnic.

We had a wonderful short picnic and then headed down the mountain again. The rest of the day was spent much the same as the day before. The kids played together, napped, ate Grandpa's homemade huckleberry ice cream, and then we washed them off with a soak in the hot tube (this time Gracie got to go in and she was a big fan. Kenny and his Dad took Ben (who was all girled out) and Gabbi (the oldest cousin there who was little kidded out) to a place called 24. They got to climb down some rocks to the river below and splash around. It was a perfect outing to the the kids who didn't really fit in all the time.

Eating Huckleberry Ice Cream

Swimming in the hot tub

Gracie is our water baby and LOVED the hot tub.

We had a great 4th of July weekend and my sadness at not being in Virginia was quickly gone, though I still would have loved to have been there. We went to church on Sunday and then had a very slow drive home that afternoon. Funny thing about our flat tire. When Kenny went to get it replaced on Monday (the hole was to big to patch) we discovered that when we got our back tires replaced on the way home from the Disney Cruise in May they had put two different sized tires on. So after a lot of talking and waiting we got two new, matching tires for the back, free. We decided to just replace the other front tire so now we have four new matching tires, two of which were free, and a spare that is a normal sized, not very used tire to put underneath. I guess that flat was a good thing afterall.

The Geyser

Watching the geyser before it went off.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, we went to the geyser in Soda Springs after the parade. The kids had never been there and it's a fun little place to visit. If you've never heard of it or been there, it's a man made geyser discovered in 1937 as an attempt to find hot water for a swimming pool. They found hot water, it was just in the form of a 100 foot high geyser. Now the geyser is the only captive geyser in the world and it goes off every hour. It's a wonderful geyser because this geyser is caused by carbon dioxide gas mixing with the water and unlike Old Faithful the water temperature only reaches the low 70's. They allow you to walk around the geyser and even run through it's spray when it goes off. I had only been there one other time (when I was pregnant with Sarah Kate) and so I was excited to go back and show the kids.

If you know Hannah at all, you know she loves bubbles. Kenny showed her a spot where the water came up and formed little bubbles. She was captivated saying "bubbles" over and over.

Ben enjoyed playing in the water as long as the geyser wasn't going off. The geyser itself really scared him.

Gracie is our water baby. She loves, loves, loves to play in the water.

This is Sarah Kate and some of her cousins playing in the spray of the geyser. They got soaked and loved every minute of it.

I thought this was a cool picture of Missi. See, I told you they got soaked.

Normally this wouldn't be a noteworthy blog, but the kids did have a lot of fun and a funny little thing happened while we were there. It was funny because it didn't involve me, but I think it would have been funny even if it did involve me. Follow the pictures and you'll see what I mean.




When we arrived at the geyser it had just finished going off so we had to wait and entire hour to see it go again. The kids enjoyed running and playing but the parents got a little bored. My mother-in-law, Helen, and two sister-in-laws, Mindy and April decided to wait at the bench that was located at the end of the geyser. I put our camera bag by them and headed to the geyser to take some pictures of the kids when it went off. The three of them were enjoying watching the kids play in the spray of the geyser. The funny thing about the geyser is that it tends to change direction and . . .


Watching the kids get wet in the spray became a little too familiar to them. The funniest thing is that Kenny and I were standing up on the geyser trying to dodge the spray as it changed locations. The next thing we knew the mom's were all getting drenched. This is a picture of Kenny, with Hannah in his arms, running to get the camera bag I had left on the bench. When he approached everyone, who were all still standing there trying to protect their cameras and baby Zack, he said "Move." It was like a light bulb went off. 'Oh yeah, we can move.' It was too late they were all drenched, but watching them all huddle there and not move an inch for a couple of minutes was very entertaining.



Everyone was pretty well soaked. The good news is that everyone dried and I think they can look back on it now and find the humor in it (right?) The cameras were ok too. That's important because the story wouldn't have been near as funny if the water had broken any of the cameras.

4th of July

Well the 4th of July came and went and I still have yet to blog about it. We had a wonderful 4th. We went to Grace to spend the weekend with Kenny's family. I must admit as we were driving to Grace I was sad. I really wanted to be back in Virginia. DC on the 4th is a great place to be. I knew our friends were going to Mount Vernon and then to Gravely Point (this is a park where the airplanes from Regan National Airport fly right over head) to watch the fireworks. We did this last year and it was probably the most fun I've ever had on the 4th of July. Needless to say, I was a little bummed. Then we got to Soda Springs where we were met by Kenny's family who were saving us a spot at the parade. It was very nice to be with family and have the kind of 4th of July I remember as a kids. I will always be glad to have had the opportunity to spend the 4th in DC, but being with family isn't too bad. :)

As I said earlier we spent the 4th with Kenny's family. His two sisters Mindy and April came with their families and we also had the three youngest Kingston girls. Our niece Maddi was invited to Nationals in gymnastics and so Karen and Cory took Maddi and her older sister Nikki to Kansas so Maddi could preform. She did very well, but I can't remember her exact scores. We were all very proud of her.

Ben and Sarah Kate watching the parade.

Getting candy at the parade.

Mommy and Hannah enjoying the parade.

Gracie and Grandma Newbry

The 4th was filled with family, food, and fireworks. We started the morning off with the parade in Soda then went to the Geyser before heading back to the house. The kids enjoyed playing outside, playing inside, and just being together. The guys helped with the building of the greenhouse and the girls took care of the kids and food (two very important things.) We had hamburgers cooked over the fire for dinner and then a great firework display put on by Gary (my father-in-law) and Kenny, thanks to some great fireworks bought in Wyoming.

Aunt Mindy brought some water balloons and the kids enjoyed tossing them back and forth with blankets. It was a lot of fun, but the real fun came when they began playing hit Daddy/Uncle Kenny with as many water balloons as you can.

Kenny finally did get a chance to fit back.

Ben helping to build Grandma and Grandpa's greenhouse!

Ben was surrounded by girls with only one boy cousin, baby Zack who was 1 in February. He enjoyed the weekend, but at one point I recall hearing him yell, "I will not be married to Alli." The girls wanted to play house with him and even tried to turn him into a girl with their magic wands. He was desperate for some boy time, so he was allowed to dig in the greenhouse with the other dads. He felt really cool.

I love this picture. I just had to share it. I don't know what's going on with Alli, but she's clearly having fun holding Gracie (that or Gracie's squishing her to death and she's yelling for help.)

Getting ready for the cookout. I promise, despite their faces in this picture, the kids all had a wonderful day.

Watching the firework show!