Pioneer Day

We decided to gather together for Pioneer day. We held our celebration at our modest home. At least it is warm enough in the summer to sit outside so we are not cramped. Wes' family joined us and my brother was even able to join us after work. My wonderful mother in law, Ellen!

Wes' brother Jeff. He had recently become a blonde.

Wes' dad, Bill, was busy taking video.

I don't usually put pictures of myself on the blog, but I need to every so often just to prove that I am still around. Wes captured this picture and honestly, I'm not sure what I'm thinking here.

We figured Lydia is old enough to light some fireworks. She enjoyed the snakes.

I did the barbecuing this time and it was pretty good, if I do say so myself. You've got to love kabobs!

We tried something new with Violet. She usually gets upset when she's outside stuck in her highchair, but it is hard to let her run around since we don't have a fence. She did pretty well hanging out in her play pen. We hadn't used it in a long time.

Lydia and Adelle had fun putting the snake soot on their faces. Lydia didn't want her picture taken, which is usual.

Violet enjoyed playing with Grandpa's hat. She is quite the little cowgirl.

Adelle imagined she was making a fire with sticks. No spontaneous flames occurred.

We finally decided to get the fireworks show going even though it was still a little bit light. Violet was happy enough to see some of the fun!

We again let Lydia light some fireworks. She was very responsible and it was probably her favorite part of the night.

Adelle kept creeping closer, and closer to the fireworks, but thanks to my nagging she stayed safe.

After a while Violet wanted to get closer too. She wanted to get down. When I told her "No" she was quite upset. We figured she was tired so she went to bed.

Adelle was quite pleased that we had soda in the house! She had several helpings until we finally had to cut her off.

We were also brave enough to let Lydia and Adelle try sparklers. The grown ups got involved too.

It ended up being a really fun evening. I was able to see a lot of aerial fireworks when I drove my brother home as well.

Oh My Cauliflower!

Our garden has done very well this year. We have always struggled to grow things, but for some reason our garden is very happy this year. We put down a weed barrier and Wes installed a drip line. Some of the plants also received some plant food. The cauliflower did not though. They were perfectly happy without any of the extras. Unfortunately not growing cauliflower before I let it get overripe. Also the earwigs were quite fond of them. They just kept dropping out of the giant heads when I was rinsing them.

You can tell by their yellow color that they are overdone and they were just starting to go to seed :( It is sad that I wasted such huge heads of cauliflower, but it is a learning experience. We haven't had a shortage of other crops though!

4th of July

On the 4th of July we attended the Magna parade near our home. It was an overcast day and we even got sprinkled on a bit, but it was better than a hot, blazing sun. I even packed lunches for everyone.

There were a couple of clowns that were quite fun.

Violet had her ups and downs. She did clap and get excited about some things.

Adelle is always excited for parades, especially when candy is thrown.

She jumps up and down and waves to everyone. She was so tired by the end of the parade. She loved the Magna Royalty.

You would think she had springs in her feet.

Violet did NOT like the loud, honking trucks and fire engines. It made her cry.

Eventually she cheered up again :)

After the parade we headed home to relax and Violet napped. Later that evening Wes' family came over and we had a BBQ and fireworks. We almost didn't need to do our own fireworks. The laws were changed to allow certain arial fireworks and I think our neighbors were overly excited about it. Everywhere you looked there were bursts of color. Violet was pretty crabby so she went to bed and missed all the fun. We missed Lydia too. She was with her dad.

Grow Your Own Butterfly

A few years ago for Christmas I picked up a butterfly habitat for the girls. It came with a handy, dandy card to order live larvae. Adelle found the long forgotten butterfly habitat and we decided to finally order the caterpillars. I didn't take any pictures of them, but I should have. They arrived in cups with their own food. They ate and grew quickly and in just a few days they formed chrysalises. We placed the chrysalises in the butterfly habitat. It only took a week or so for them to emerge as beautiful painted lady butterflies. We had a choice to either let them live their 2 short weeks in captivity or let them go. Adelle really wanted to keep them as long as possible and wanted them to lay eggs so we could have hundreds of caterpillars. I didn't like that idea since we would need to scavenge food for them. Wes was absolutely grossed out with the bugs in the house. So the adults won out and we let them go. They were so pretty. Two of the butterflies really "liked" each other. I was nervous that they would leave eggs before they departed, but they eventually flew away without leaving any offspring.

It really was a neat experience and I would love to try another bug adventure some day. I have always loved bugs anyway and it was very interesting to see most the the butterflies life cycle. Also, they are so beautiful!

Hiking Mirror Lake and Doughnut Falls

We decided to go hiking one day in late June. Lydia unfortunately was gone at her dad's. We decided to do an easier hike, Mirror Lake.

The lake was absolutely overflowing. I had never seen it so full.

The path was covered with puddles. The air smelled so fresh and clean.

We were also surprised to find big drifts of snow covering out path.

It made using the stroller quite interesting. If we had known we would have used the baby carrier.

If the water had been any higher the boardwalk probably would have been impassable.

We enjoyed our walk so much that we decided to drive further down the canyon to Doughnut Falls. We switched to the baby carrier first. We have found Violet does okay in it for an hour or so and then she starts to protest.

Adelle loved all the rushing streams. I made sure to keep a close eye on her.

Since the water levels were so high we weren't able to make it to the falls. The way was completely blocked by water. But it was still a beautiful hike.

There is something amazing to venturing out into nature, especially with my family.

Lydia's Elegant 12th Birthday

We've had some pretty fancy birthday parties this year, including Lydia's birthday party. It isn't every day that a girl turns 12. We decided to have an evening of elegance and refinement. We sent fancy invitations and asked the girls to dress up. Lydia chose to wear her southern belle costume. The girls started out the evening playing croquet.

All of her friends dressed so beautifully. One of the girls even had an Austen inspired dress made just for the party.

Adelle was excited she could join in the fun. She wore an Arwen dress that Wes made for Lydia years ago.

Speaking of Wes, he was wonderful and kept Violet entertained. She really wanted to run off with the croquet balls.

It was a pretty hot afternoon so the girls decided to delay the game in favor of dinner. The tables were set up outside with linen table clothes and fancy punch glasses. We even picked up some fancy sundae cups. Wes and Lydia composed and printed off menus. Each entree had a french name, with descriptions in English. Each of the girls could choose a drink, sandwich and choose what type of sundae they wanted. I made several different punches and had a few different sodas. The girls could choose an egg salad sandwich on wheat toast, chicken salad on a croissant, or ham and cheese on a roll. The tables also had luscious strawberries with a sweet vanilla dip, and a cheese ball with crackers.

For the desert the girls chose the toppings of their choice. Lydia's was topped with a candle as well.

I was the waitress and I did a lot of running around taking orders, bringing food, and refilling drinks. I think this was probably the girls favorite part.

After dinner Lydia's friends showered her with gifts. They were so generous and sweet!

After presents the girls settled down to watch Pride and Prejudice.

The girls headed outside to finish out the night. The all practiced their fancy walking and waving.

Lydia had a wonderful time. She really is growing up so quickly and I am just so proud of her. It will be a night to always remember.

Fathers Day a bit Early

After we got home from the Pow Wow we had a yummy dinner and Wes read to Violet. I have a hard time keeping surprises and wanted to give Wes his father's day present a day early. Even though he had guessed it he seemed pleased to get the Matrix Trilogy on Blu-Ray. Adelle also had a special present of Dad coupons.

The next day Wes still got little surprises like a special dinner! Happy Fathers Day!