July 2017

 July really picked up for us with all the celebrations and family in town. It was such a fun month. 

July 4th Celebrations:  We did some fireworks with the kids throughout the week.  They mostly loved them.  Tess wasn't too sure about the sparklers and decided that she didn't mind watching them but didn't want to hold them.  

Then there was the annual Bee's Game with the Payne's.  This is a really fun tradition and this year we had Ryan and Sara's family with us!

On Independence Day we had a BBQ and swam at Grandma and Grandpa Payne's and then headed out to Leatherby's for some ice cream.   

 Later that night we did more fireworks with our cul-de-sac neighbors...

 Devin has a knack for finding unusual and unique festivals to take us to.  Here we are at the Scottish festival which was fun to see!

My first run since getting pregnant was with these fun ladies down American Fork Canyon.  It was a bit hard but I did it!

And suddenly Tess turned 3!!  3 years old! She is definitely the most spunky kid.  She loves to laugh, but especially loves to make other people laugh.  When she gets excited she always has to hug someone and tell them how great it is.  She loves to tell people they are her best friends and she will often say I love you out of the blue.  She loves to go to the museum of curiosity and will often ask multiple times a day to go.  Her favorite things to eat are pizza, fruit, and fruit snacks and she hates anything that is "salad" (vegetables).  She loves the TV and could sit and watch all day if we would let her.  She loves to collect little toys, rocks, chapsticks, money...really just anything that she can carry around all day.  Her favorite animal is cats and she has 3 stuffed cats that she sleeps with always and often asks why we can't get a real cat.  She loves to talk and tell stories.  She has a great memory often telling us things she remembers from quite awhile ago.  She is so full of life and love and brings such a unique spirit to our family!

 For her birthday she got to take her best friend Kassidy to a movie and lunch.  She was in heaven!

Later that night, Grandma and Grandpa Payne came over to celebrate too...

We had a chance to spend a day at Sara's parent's house while they were in town.  Not only is their house super fun and kid friendly but the cousins have so much fun together.  We love spending time with this family!

Classic Skating Fun!

Bridal Veil Falls with cousins.  Picked up some Taco Bell and headed up to play in the water.

Ryan and Sara's family came to stay with us for a couple nights while they were here and at the same time our best friends from California, The Villamizar's were in town for a visit.  It was such a fun night having everyone together!

Took the kids to the Bean Museum one day and walked around BYU campus...

Then came time for the Payne Family Reunion!  We did a stay-cation this year and unfortunately missed Gavin and Becky's family.  On the first day we all headed out to the zoo... 

 Not only were Natalee and Tess twinners but Tess would not leave her side all day...

The next day we all drove out to Antelope Island where we saw antelope and bison and had a picnic on a ranch that has been there for over 200 years.  Such a fun group to be with. 

Once a week for the entire summer we would get together with our Sandy crew for a playdate (but mostly a mom date... we are just fortunate that our kids like each other too)!  We would mostly swim but none of us would ever remember to take pictures.  One week we decided to head up Big Cottonwood Canyon to a picnic site and it was such a fun day.  There was a cave that the kids could explore and shallow water to play in.  It was  great day!

Baby Bump popped out quite early! 13 weeks here...

Another friend from California came to visit and we were able to spend the day at the pool with them.  The Covington's are such a great family and Quincy and Kaylena have been such great friends. 

 Addie spent 2 days a week, 3 hours each day, for 8 weeks doing a Girls In Tech Program to learn coding.  It was awesome and she really enjoyed it.  At the end they were able to present the project that they had worked out throughout the class.  Addie built a computer math game using code.  She is already smarter than me!

Extended Payne Family Reunion.  We aren't able to get together very often with Devin's Uncles, Aunts, and cousins but it is always a good time when we do.  Fun spending the day with these Payne's!

As July ended we had to say goodbye to Ryan and Sara and their family who headed back to their home in Maine.  We hate seeing them leave but are always grateful for the memories we make with them.  Our busiest month of the summer was over!