July Celebrations

Heidi and Christian were sealed to their girls in the Twin Falls temple on July 3rd. Mike, Lilly and I made the trip up to see them. Grammie was gracious enough to entertain the older kids during the day and then Grampa and Grama picked them up for a sleepover later that night so they could go to the Oakley parade.

The sealing room was full of Boise friends. We love and miss the McMullin family and it was so good to spend a little time with them before we went our separate ways back home. I especially loved that the sealer said to listen to the girls prayers for they know just what to pray for. Heavenly Father seems to speak more directly to them and they are better listeners.

Heidi and I must have secretly coordinated! It was an emotional day. Definitely tears of joy. Taylor is 11, Mya almost 7 and Kendall 2. Taylor understood the most, she was so excited to be sealed to her family.

Lilly was a great traveler especially because I thought the drive was 2.5 hours and it was really 3.5+ stops to nurse. I sat in the back with her and she loved all the attention. Mike's cousin Taelor watched Lilly while we were at the sealing. She was so cute. Thanks for your help, Taelor.

Mike, Lilly and I headed up to the Ranch about lunch time. We missed the morning festivities at the Oakley parade. Each kid had a bag full of candy and loved every minute of it. Parades without candy are boring! And Oakley never disappoints. The kids enjoyed the day swimming, horse back riding, bb guns, 4 wheelers and a delish bbq featuring Norm the beloved cow. Thanks Tifani for yummy lunch and dinner.

And more pictures with cousin Beckett. Lilly(3 months) is a giant only 7 weeks older than little Beckett (6 weeks old). But he's working on catching up to her. The kids all had to each hold one of the babies. So lots of pictures with someone holding someone.

Beckett is so content. He just loved all the commotion his cousins offered.

And by the end, Lilly had had enough!

Although the night was just beginning. We left Marion and headed back to the HOT city. The weather is always cooler at the ranch than in the city. Just as we were coming out of Parleys canyon we could see the celebrations around the Salt Lake valley, firecrackers here and there and everywhere in between. Just as we pulled up Farrell lane, the fireworks were roaring on our street!! We went to the porch and enjoyed watching our neighbors show. Glade easily spends over $1000 on fireworks, probably more because Mike looked at the price of our favorite and it was $160 and Glade had 2 of them. The neighbors were all lined up watching his show as well. We were super lame and didn't buy any fireworks  not even sparklers. The kids are afraid of them so we figured why spend money on them for the adults. Lexi asked for more firecrackers the next night. She loved every minute of it. Happy birthday America!