Lucy's 2nd Birthday

We did lots of celebrating for Lucy's birthday this year. Normally, we like to keep most birthdays low-key and throw a big party every few years.  We had just moved right before Lucy's 1st birthday and didn't know anyone to throw a big 1st birthday, so we decided to make a big deal out of her 2nd. Boy, did we....

First, we celebrated that Sunday, July 3rd, with my parents.  We really just had some ice cream to celebrate, but Lucy was still excited, in case you can't tell from the picture below! 

We sang her happy birthday...

On Tuesday, July 5th, Lucy recieved some balloons and a sweet bear from G-ma and G-pa Smith.  I don't know what it is about balloons, but kids sure love them!

On Lucy's real birthday, July 6th, my mom made her a yummy chocolate cake.

 She really enjoyed it...

 ...both the girls did!

Lu also opened some presents. This one was a cool beach ball that you hook up to a sprinkler and it sprays out of different places on the ball.

We also got her this way cool "sand boat". Obviously, no sand yet.

Then that following Saturday, we had a friend party with some friends from church and some great neighbors and some awesome relatives.

Here is the beach ball sprinkler in action.

 This picnic table has been one of our best finds at the DI.  It is super sturdy and as you can see, holds a ton of kids!

 This is Lucy and her cousin (if you want to get technical, her 1st cousin, once removed...aka, he's actually Dan's cousin) Asa.  He's 10 months here... he and Lu are the same size. Awesome.  She really is pretty darn petite!

 All the kids enjoyed the sandboat. with sand, of course.

 Cute girl!

 Our delicious looking cupcake display.

 If you were to ask Lu if she enjoyed her birthday...

 ...you bet she'd say yes!

Happy birthday my little Lu! I hope you enjoyed all your birthday celebrating. You are such a sweet little girl and I love watching you grow and be so creative and caring.  I can't  can wait to see you grow up into a beautiful young woman! Don't grow up to fast my love. I am enjoying every moment of you. I hope I'm making the cut as your mom! Love you lots!

And just because... check out this chubby bundle of cuteness!

Brian & Heidi's Wedding

My brother Brian got married on May 28th in the Sacramento Temple to his sweetheart, Heidi.  We are so happy to have her as a part of our crazy family.  It was a great day and it's a good thing they got married in Sacramento, because it was raining and SNOWING in Reno- yeah, almost June and snowing people. Gross. Anyways, I've posted these on Facebook, but since some of my family is not on facebook, they requested that I post some here too.  It's mostly just a lot of pictures, not much commentary. So here you go, some happy moments of Brian and Heidi's special day...

 Herb and his future companion...

This is Heidi's niece, Savannah. She's a little bit excited to see Heidi, I think!

4th of July Weekend

We had a great 4th of July weekend.  We went up to Logan on Friday night to see Dan's family, and as luck would have it, the city's fireworks were that night!  We were excited, since we hadn't planned to see any.

Getting ready to go to Logan and looking cute!

 Waiting for the fireworks to start.

We went right across the street from Dan's grandma's house.  It was pretty far away, but just fine for the little girls.  You can see in this video how far away we were.  However, it is WAY cute to hear Lucy say fireworks...

We went up for Dan's other grandma's birthday celebration, but unfortunately, I forgot to take out my camera then!

On the actual 4th, we went down to Provo to watch their huge parade with some of my dad's family.  The girls had a great time, even though it was super hot.

Dan and Lu

 Jenna rockin' my sunglasses.

 Me and the top of Jason's head...

 This was the face Jenna would make every time a float went by with "princesses" (aka girls in pretty dresses)

She was ex.ci.ted.

 We then headed over to my aunt's house for a little bbq.  These were relatives that I hadn't seen for about 12 years! Yeah, things have changed... a little... I'm so glad we went, it was so wonderful to see them!

My dad and some of his siblings and their spouses

 What an awesome weekend, filled with family and fun! I love this time when we can reflect on this country and those who have fought so hard for our rights.  I am so grateful to be an American and enjoy the freedoms we do.  Happy Independence Day!

Our Happy 4th of July family picture