July

Matt and his Uncle Brett hiked to Grandeur Peak.  I think this actually happened in June, but whatever...

 

Super fun sleepover with our fabulous Leishman cousins.  We always love to get together with those boys.  Aunt Jackie and Uncle Colby surprised the boys with a new puppy when she picked them up.

4th of July - Parade at Morgan & Amy's house.  Lunch and bouncy house at their house afterward.  Dinner, games and fireworks at Oakridge that night.  My favorite part of the day was watching the parade and driving in the golf cart with Will... remind me to be very scared when he's ready to get a driver's license!!!

Boating Willard on the 5th of July with Bradley's best bud Kory.  He moved away in 5th grade but every time they come to Utah we like to get together.  He was a great help with Lauren trying to wakeboard her first time (she did great!) and my highlight of the day was watching Bradley and Kory wakeboard side by side!!

Matt, Bradley, & Kory biking Farmington Flats:

 Will, Owen, and our neighbor Tyler were in a "Patriot Camp" the week following the 4th of July.  They were not excited to attend the camp, but they all LOVED it!!!

 Goofy guys... they requested these pics:

In continuing with our Sunday hikes, we took the kids up near Snowbasin to hike the area their great, great grandpa Nord helped to develop.  We also had a picnic and played frisbee at the ski resort.  

Krischelle's family was in town for part of the month.  We met up at Cassie's mom's home for a swim party.  Fun kids, fun gals:

We had to put our sweet Maggie down on June 18th.  She'd been vomiting, not eating well, and was increasingly lethargic.  When we took her into the vet, we discovered she'd lost almost 20 lbs and the vet found a large tumor he assumed was cancerous.  Since she was 11 years old, there wasn't much we could do.  This was a difficult loss for all of us and I wasn't prepared for how devastated I'd be. She was a good dog - we love you Mags.

 24th July - Long Weekend...  

"Homemade" firework show.

 Boating @ Willard Bay.  Bradley is danger close to completing a 360 and staying in the wake:

Camp out in the back yard:

We ended the holiday on a high note with a bike ride and picnic up at Snowbasin:

 We've loved Oakridge this summer.  Will & Owen have taken golf lessons and Will & Bradley were in a tournament where they both won a trophy!  I've also really enjoyed swimming with the kids there.  This is the first year of all my kids being independent swimmers.  Before they were all confident with swimming, going to the pool induced varying levels of anxiety for me, now... it makes going to the pool the most lovely, relaxing part of my week - I'm usually begging them to go more!

The last week of July, Lauren went to a day of YW camp in Heber with Matt... they had a grand time.  Matt said Lauren was the first volunteer for the ropes course - that's our adventurous gal!