4th of July

For the 4th of July, Shane and I signed up this year to run the Cherry Days 5K.  I was a little nervous to run at the higher elevation, so we ran the 5K route Saturday night after arriving, and then we ran another time Monday morning.  It was definitely harder to breathe, but it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.  Wendi signed up to run it with us, so Wednesday morning, we got up early and headed down to the IHC parking lot where the race began.  We all started out together, but we slowly split up, and I lost Shane on the big hill and never quite caught back up to him.  I still ended up running one of my best times, and placed third in my age group (out of about 25, so not too spectacular). 

After the race, we hurried home, got ready, and then went to North Ogden park for our traditional pancake and egg breakfast put on by the Kiwanis club.  Afterwards, we went to the nice shaded parade spot that Kent had worked hard to save for us.  The kids had fun watching the parade, and we had fun visiting.  Our good friends Mike and Heather happened to be sitting right next to us, so we were glad we could visit with them.

 

Davis, James, and Landon chillin’ on the blanket

 

Me and my cute boys

 

Shane holding James, and Alexys and Laci watching the parade

 

The kids out in the road trying to get candy, and James enjoying a tootsie roll he found

That evening, we had a nice barbecue, with hamburgers, delicious salads, and yummy dessert. Melanie’s parents came over to eat with us as well as Roger and Renae, some longtime family friends of the Malans.

 

Landon and Keither, and James enjoying some watermelon.

 

Ames eating his dinner, and everyone else sitting around eating

 

Davis found this umbrella stroller and decided it would be fun to put his doggy in it.

 

Laci with her polar bear, and some more shots of the group eating

 

James with his messy after-dinner face, and Kelly pointing out a plane to James

 

After dinner, Alexys brought out some watercolors, and soon all of the kids were sitting around painting for quite awhile. 

   

The fireworks this year were being set off somewhere new, which was much closer to Kent and Christie’s house, so we were able to just walk over to the park around the block and watch them there. It was the perfect spot to watch and hardly any other people were there.  It was pretty dark by the time I got over there, so I didn’t get too great of pictures, but I did capture a few.

  

Crystal Hot Spring {July 3}

On Tuesday, we went swimming again, this time up at Crystal Hot Springs.  Even though the pools here were much more outdated and had fewer toys than North Shore, I enjoyed this day swimming much more just because there were so few people, and the pools were smaller so it made it easier to keep track of the kids.  They also had two tube water slides that were pretty fun.  Once again, we couldn’t convince Landon to try them out (I know what you’re thinking, and yes . . . Landon takes after me), but Davis and James went down several times.  After his first time down the slide, I asked James how it was.  He said put his hand out and moved it from side to side, imitating the motion of the turns in the slide, and said “Woah, woah, woah,” and then he splashed his hand into the water. 

  

The boys with Christie, and Laci and Alexys swimming

   

Utah Trip–Swimming at North Shore {July 2}

On Monday, the kids had a fun morning relaxing around the house.  Alexys played with James and helped him build a big tower, and then all the kids played a game of Life. 

     

After naptime, we headed to North Shore to go swimming.  It was a little crowded but it was still a lot of fun, and the kids had fun swimming, going on the river run, and Davis and James even went down the waterslide with Shane. (We couldn’t ever convince Landon to try it.)

         

That night, we ate in the backyard again, and James had fun with Emma, following her around and giving her kisses.  He also had fun sitting with Grandpa at the big table!

   

Trip to Utah, Day 1 & 2 {June 30 & July 1}

This last week, we went to Utah to spend the week with Shane’s family.  We left Friday at about 1:00 p.m. and drove straight through.  Kelly followed us in his car with his dog Emma.  The drive went well until the last few hours, when James was tired and should have gone to sleep but instead just cried.  The good news was it kept us awake! 

Saturday morning, we relaxed and played with cousins.  Keither, Alexys, and Laci were down from Idaho for the week too, so the boys had fun playing with them.  Kent and Christie took them to the Treehouse Museum, and then we had a barbecue that evening.

 

Shane and Mark grilling up some delicious veggies.

 

James loved having Emma there all week.  He followed her all over, saying “’mon, Emma” (come on), “No, Emma!” or “Emma!  Emma!  Emma!” repeatedly. 

 

James and Ames eating on their little table.

On Sunday, we enjoyed a nice day at church.  The kids had fun playing with some blocks and building towers together after church.

   

After dinner, we went to visit Grandma Brewer at her new place, and brought her back from some brownies and ice cream.  It was fun to see Grandma Brewer and visit with her for a little bit!