summer days

The house I grew up in has a big hill out back.  It was perfect for sledding in the winter and putting out the slip 'n slide in the summer!  I remember it wasn't uncommon in the summer for the hill to have a big long dry spot in the grass from where the slide was enjoyed! 

Brian's parents have a fun hill at their place and decided to try out a slip 'n slide on it!  It was a lot of fun....for EVERYONE!

GO JEAN GO!!!

After a few times down with a buddy, Emmy got brave and wanted to go by herself!  After her first solo run she said, "emmy more!"

Our family run! 

Then we all cooled off with a patriotic treat...fitting since it was the 24th of July :)

Next time I'll be sure to bring my suit so I can enjoy the fun more!  Sounds like a longer, wider slip 'n slide is in the works.  FUN!  That means races!

expired

I got a notice in the mail about a month ago...the government was so kind to remind me that another 5 years had gone by and it was time for me to renew my license. UGH.

So, for the last month I've been gathering all the required documentation and finally, my sweet dad came up to watch the girls so I could go smile for the camera, read a line of letters and tell them "yes, I can see the blinking lights."

I heard it was a nightmare to renew these days so I made sure I was prepared(in fact, turns out I was a bit over prepared. Better safe than sorry right). I filled out the application online before hand. I left the "weight" line blank till the very end. I wasn't sure how many pounds I wanted to subtract without it being totally obvious I was fibbing. I settled on 3.

 

I would be lying if I said I didn't really care about the photo. For a few days now I've been pondering what to wear. I figured this picture is going to be staring at me each time I open my wallet for the NEXT 5 YEARS, I wanted to at least look like I cared about my appearance. I didn't want to over do it though. I decided against rhinestones and too much jewelry. I went with black. I figured it would look nice with the blue background. Now, how much make up? I didn't want my lipstick color to scream "look at me, I got all dolled up" but I wanted a little color - a nice pink gloss? Now, what about the smile???? Yes, I practiced. This morning I practiced and practiced. I'd smile, then look in the mirror to see if I got the look I wanted. When I finally got "the smile" I held it and memorized how it "felt" to smile that way so when they told me to look at the camera, I'd be ready.

Well, after about 1 hour and 15 minutes after walking in the DMV, I left with a nice piece of paper that will serve as my license till the lovely official piece of plastic arrives in the mail.  As for the picture...wish I could have kept my last photo.  I don't think any of my "preparations" helped me a bit.  For the next 5 years I will have to look at an older, larger me (good thing I didn't subtract any more pounds...they all show in my face).  Maybe I can just "misplace" this one? 

"roasting"

Not only have we been roasting because of the summer heat, we did some roasting at my parents recently too!  It was Emmy's first hot dog roast!  We had good weather and good food! 

Of course we had s'mores too! 

I hope we can get together and do more of these roasts this summer!  I think a hot dog over the fire, some potato chips and a few s'mores is the absolute PERFECT summer meal!   

tummy time

Bailey is pretty much a "pro" now when it comes to rolling from her back to her tummy! Now she just needs to figure out how to roll from tummy-to-back!  Emmy did the same thing...mastered the back to tummy roll but would then get "stuck!"  She'd put her arms back towards her legs and lift her head real high like she was some sort of fish.  Bailey does exactly that!  Now, Bailey's naps are shorter because she rolls on to her tummy and panics and it wakes her up.  Can't wait till she figures out how to keep the rollin' goin'!

Arms back, head up...ready for take off!  Maybe I should try this sometime!  I'm sure it's a great ab and lower back workout!

Emmy is such a proud sister!  Bailey laughs the hardest and smiles the biggest at Emmy these days!



brian's day

Brian was at scout camp on his actual birthday so we did our celebrating a few days late.  No big deal though!  We had a yummy meal with family, ate cake, opened presents and just enjoyed the summer day!

Happy birthday Brian!  We love you more than anything!

outside

We are surely loving the nice weather!  Everyone seems to be happy when we get some outdoor time, including mom! 

Since the sale of our home is moving along I find we are spending more time outside and I am taking more photos of the girls in our yard and even around the house.  I guess I want to make sure I have it all documented so girls will one day be able to see where our little family began (and grama grew up). 

i had a little doggy

I guess it was bound to happen...

I remember doing it when I was little...

When you have dogs and children, it's inevitable...

"Emmy. drink. puppy"  That was all she had to say and I knew exactly what she wanted.  I got her a bowl of water and she put it by Gunner's.  What a goof ball!  

oh the things we've been doing...

First, I'm a little late but better late than never right!  A few weeks ago Brian and I celebrated our FIVE YEAR anniversary!  Yeah for us! 

To mark the occasion, we took a little road trip up to Sun Valley just us two.  I'll admit I was a worried we wouldn't have much to talk about besides the girls but we talked AND LAUGHED a lot.  It was fun just road-trippin' with my hubby!  We packed a cooler of goodies, munched a lot, stayed in a nice hotel, ate a yummy dinner and took our time driving home.  We missed the girls but it was nice to have some time for us.

(believe it or not, the only picture I took on our adventure was of a mountain...so, no 5 year photo.  oops)

As for how we celebrated July 4th....

We started by watching the local firework display on Friday night.  It was great having some of Brian's fam and my fam there!  Emmy liked the fireworks and would watch for certain colors.  Bailey, well she wasn't too sure about them. 

Saturday we tried to keep cool during the day then headed down to main street to watch the cruise-in parade that evening. Brian's parents put their car in this year and Emmy went for her first "drag" down main!  It was a HOT evening, can you tell by Bailey's face! 

Sunday we had a BBQ at my mom's and played outside.  Later we went to Brian's parents to celebrate my bro-in-law's bday!

Monday(the actual 4th of July) the girls and I, my mom and sisters went to a parade!  Emmy got LOADS of candy!  Needless to say, we didn't keep it all.  And yes, I wore the same shirt two days in a row - with the 4th being celebrated for 4 days I started to run out of red, white and blue clothes for the girls and I! 

Monday night was our neighborhood fireworks extravaganza!  Brian and some of the guys on our street were pretty excited about the lift on the firework restrictions this year so they took FULL advantage of their firework "freedom!" Brian built a launcher for the illegal ones (shhh) and we all just prayed that nothing caught fire while ANY fireworks were being lit.  There was quite a turnout for the "big event!"

All in all, it was a fun-filled weekend of celebrating our freedom's and independence with family and friends!  I absolutely LOVE July because to me it's what summer is all about!

Other happenings over the big weekend...

Bailey rolled over!  Yeah!  And Emmy helped capture the moment!

and last but not least-

We bought this "beauty" of a trailer!

We are the proud owners of a bunch of chicken coops, a "vintage" trailer, a huge shed AND .50 ACRES of land!!!! (we officially close this Wednesday) We are so excited!  Brian hopes to start demolishing everything over the 24th so we can get the land ready to build on!  That's right, the trailer's coming down!  The sale on our house hasn't finalized yet but it's getting close.  We are crossing our fingers everything goes smoothly.  I guess, if anything, this lovely property will serve as a great investment if we don't sale soon.  

I feel like I've finally caught up now!  At least, posting the major happenings anyway.  I'm really going to try to keep up on blogging better. 

HAPPY JULY!