We've been busy...

Well, our birthday's have come and gone. The 4th of July has come and gone. I've finished my 1st block classes, started 2nd block classes, D is half way through his semester, and life rolls on. Despite being super busy with school work and other things, we're still enjoying our summer!! I can't believe how fast it's flying!!!

Birthday's

D's birthday was the 24th, and mine was the 27th of June. We celebrated our birthday's early with my family because my mom was going to be leaving for New York to spend some time with her family. She's there until August!! Glad you're having fun, Mom! We celebrated later with D's family by going out to eat at Goodwood BBQ! Delicious food, great company...thanks to both of our families for being wonderful. We love you all!!

D & Liam drawing with 3-D chalk

Liam and his crazy static hair :)

Miss HannahI love Liam's crusty face! We were telling him he couldn't eat his plate.
Birthday babesBaby brother, SkylarPappy J

Shan & Jonathan

For our birthdays, we treated ourselves to some new sleeping bags! We severely needed new sleeping bags, so we were stoked that we found some on sale at Cabela's, and we already got the chance to put them to use!

For birthday's, we have a deal with McSweeney's that we won't buy each other gifts, but that we'd take each other out for dinner to celebrate. Their birthday's are only a month apart, so it works out nicely for us and for them when birthdays come around. This year, they totally blew us out of the water and took us to eat at Tepanyaki! It was totally amazing! Thanks again, you guys! You're the best! They cook your food on a grill right in front of you, and you totally get a great dinner and a show. We went out to dinner on R's 2nd birthday to celebrate hers too. All 3 of us have our b-days within a week from each other. R's b-day is June 30th.

Can't see T very well :(

Onion volcano in celebration of all 3 birthdays

Cake & ice cream to celebrate R's b-day...happy 2nd birthday, R!

Manti Pageant

I guess the pictures are a little bit out of order, but on June 23rd, D and I went down to the Manti, Ut pageant with my cousins, the Lapes. Thanks for inviting us to go with you, guys! We had a great time! They were so sweet and brought cupcakes down to celebrate our birthdays. And, it was great to see Jessy's reaction when she saw the costumes! We got a little bit of it on video, but it doesn't do justice at all to how excited she was.

The cool windmills headed into Spanish Fork canyon on the way down to Manti...we think they're beautiful and fun to watch.

If you look close, you can see the Manti temple in the reflection of D's glasses :)

4th of July Weekend

This year, D & I decided to hit the balloon festival before the 4th. Usually we do it on the 4th and then head straight over for the parade, but this year we decided to go early. We kind of regretted our decision because there weren't nearly as many balloons as there usually are, and they weren't able to go up because there was a storm coming in. It was still fun though. We love going to the balloon festival!!

I thought this picture looked cool :)

One of the balloon guys had funky hair!! We just had to get a shot of it!

Our traditional self-shot. We do these everywhere we go :)A couple of our favorite balloons:
Smokey the Bear
And Tony the Tiger...he was new this year!
We found Big Buddha from Fox 13 news. We're all showing our Buddha bellies :)
Then, that night we went camping with McSweeney's up Hobble Creek Canyon. So fun. We LOVE camping!!
The burning bush ;)
D got some really cool fire shots!J & T showing off on the log.
McSweeney's in their huge, cozy tent.
We made YUMMY peach cobbler in the dutch oven!
D playing with fire...go figure!
R loved sitting in her very own camping chair.
Moonlight coming through the clouds and the trees.
First time officially using our new sleeping bags!
D made a delicious breakfast for us, on top of the scrumptious tin foil dinners he made for us the night before...I seriously have the coolest husband in the world! I love you, babe!
J enjoying his bacon.
R & T
Yeah, that's why I usually don't take pictures of myself in the morning :)

After camping, we went home and got ready to head to the Freedom Festival. We enjoyed a delicious chocolate dipped frozen banana from Travis and Rachel's Banana Stand, and did some browsing.

Us in the car we want to get...a convertible Smart car.

After the Freedom Festival, we went for a hike up Payson Canyon to the Grotto...a fun little waterfall. The hike was tretcherous!! Just kidding. It was only .6 miles to the falls and back. Totally a fun little hike. We heard it's better to visit earlier in the spring though because there's more water. (Thanks for the tip to try out the hike, Janice!)

My cute husband :)
T behind the falls

Then, finally the actual 4th of July holiday!! We were almost late for the parade because I thought it started at 10, but thanks to my punctuality and love of being early to things, we just barely missed the beginning of the parade and pretty much saw the whole thing. Thanks again to the McSweeney family for saving a spot for us and for providing yummy pancakes and other food!

R & J blowing bubbles

Being airplanes :)
D got his first chance to ride on a Segway...I opted to just take pictures.
Traditional shot again
(Mike and Lora, you guys are in the background, and we didn't even notice! Haha...small world!)
Better shot of us :)
And then it wouldn't be a 4th of July post without posting shots of the fireworks!!

We hope you all had as wonderful of an Independence Day as we did!!