Quick Round-Up of July

July was a VERY busy month for our family. Here's what we did!

• First July 4th at our House. Loved watching our crazy neighbors set off fireworks. Enjoyed our family being with us in our backyard!
• Mama flew with the boys to Philadelphia. Visited Grandma and Grandpa. Went to a working dairy and fed some animals. Ate some ice cream (yummers!). Visited with extended family.
  
• Mama went to Hazleton, PA to visit with some friends from youth group/FCBC and took Baby. Spiderman stayed with G+G for a fun weekend alone! They went to Ocean City, NJ and a small zoo.
  
• Visited with Grandmom and Grandpop in Carlisle for a week. Enjoyed their pool and a church picnic. Went to Lake Tobias (wildlife park) and enjoyed the petting zoo. Spiderman found a peacock feather and we brought it home... it's around here somewhere...
• Took G+G to the doctor several times for some medical problems, hopefully that is all better now! Went for walks and enjoyed their property. Drove Gpop's really awesome new lawn mower!
• Came home at the same time as Uncle C and even flew on the second flight next to him! That was great fun for Spiderman who pretended to be the pilot the whole way from SLC to home. We were his co-pilots and assistants.
• Hung out with Uncle C for several days. Lost my voice. Tried to do a gig with T2 but failed miserably. Started getting my voice back in time for our camping trip to Grandjean.
  
• Camped in Grandjean at the base of the Sawtooth Mountains. GORGEOUS! Hiked my butt off. It nearly killed me. It wasn't really hiking; more like blazing a trail! Went to Redfish Lake in Stanley. Also really beautiful! Wilderness experiences out west are so much better than PA!!!
• Went to a Hawks game to celebrate Hubby's 31st birthday! Caught some balls at the end... that was fun!
• Enjoyed the fact that Baby can now say "Bababa" and "Dadada" and can scoot around the floor, including pivoting which is hysterical, sit himself up, stand holding onto something, and eat solid foods. He's growing up so fast and is learning so much! I can tell already that he is going to be a HAND-FULL!!!
• Started purchasing school supplies! Spiderman starts Kindergarten on August 25! Can't believe it. Wow.
  

Working in the Garden

Stuff is starting to bloom in our gardens! Everything is still very small and young, but it will grow and we are really enjoying working on getting things how we like them. Here's a collage of some of what's happening, we'll update as the summer progresses!
Enjoy the beautiful colors!

Memorial Day Weekend

On Friday we went to visit Besther in Ogden, UT!!! We had a bit of a crazy day getting ready for our trip. Remember the accident that Mr. Oz was in? Well, his truck finally went into the shop to be fixed and the insurance company arranged for a rental vehicle for our family for the week! PTL, we had a vehicle with air conditioning that we could drive to UT! So in the middle of Baby's nap on Friday, the Enterprise guy ("we pick you up!") came and picked us up... which was nice, but made for a not-so-fun packing experience later when Baby's schedule was all messed up and Da Mama had to pack the new rental truck by herself. Oh well, we made it and picked Daddy up at work and headed out about 6:30 that evening. We got there pretty late, but Besther was waiting, including Storm (Cooper's new girlfriend) and Rascal the Cat. Harley and Stella (cats) were no where to be seen--they're shy :)

On Saturday after a yummy breakfast we went out to the Dinosaur Park and an early dinner at the Prairie Schooner Restaurant Steakhouse where you eat your meal in a wagon surrounded by a starlit sky. Totally Mr. Oz's kind of thing. And the rest of us thought it was pretty cool as well! Besther's friend Justin came over for awhile and the boys played baseball in the backyard. On Sunday we attended their church, Grace, and followed that up with some naps. We took a drive up to Snow Basin where the 2002 Winter Olympics were held. Beautiful!!! We also stopped at Union Station to climb on some trains, and eat dinner at Roosters. Yum!

We had a wonderful weekend with friends and are so glad that we've been able to see them during these past two years living out west. Thankful that God provided comfortable, old friends so close! Who knows, we probably see them more now than if we both still lived back east! They live in an amazing place -- so when they say come visit, you should take them up on it, you won't be disappointed! ;)

Here are some pics of our fun:

My Saturday

This week my hubby had to go to work on Saturday. He didn't work Wednesday due to weather conditions. Most of the employees weren't too thrilled with the idea... but thankfully it did enable Mr. Oz to stay home on the day that he was feeling pretty sick (cold/fever)... so it worked out for us! So, since we didn't have Daddy on the day we normally do, I tried to copy some of the things that Spiderman is used to doing on Saturday!

We went outside and worked in the flower gardens. He helped me pull weeds and toss them over the back fence (not into the neighbors yard, into the space between yards!). Then he helped me rake the dirt and he attempted to hoe, but almost hoed my head, so I put a stop to that. We played baseball for awhile and I have to say that he is GOOD! He can hit them really far and hits almost every pitch (except for some of the "balls" I was throwing... guess I am not as good of a pitcher as Daddy). I also did Mr. Oz's usual Saturday job of cleaning up after Cooper in the back yard. Ick.

Then we moved to the front yard and cleaned up the two raised beds. Unfortunately they need some more dirt because of some of it washing away over the year... so I cleaned out the mulch so that we can get the dirt where we want it, plant flowers, and then remulch them.

I also cleaned out the car, which really needed to happen!

Meanwhile, little Baby played with his toys in the play pen that I purchased at a yard sale last summer for $2! It was great! He was happy for quite awhile in there!!!

Today Baby and I are home from church... a week of interrupted sleeping (including last night at 4:40) and fevers and coughing and blowing noses has done me in! Today I am going to attempt to put Baby back on his schedule and make sure he gets his naps, which is really hard to do on Sundays.

Have a great day!