July TidBits

July started out with an incredible sunrise and riding with Kaylie. I couldn't stop myself from snapping photos all the way to the barn. It was incredible!

I rode Tess and Kaylie rode Nika. It was the perfect early morning for a ride and we had a very fun time together. I love when I can get out and ride, which is not nearly enough... usually only a few times a year. I have a dream to have horses someday, but we will see if that actually ever transpires.

Kiyan peeking her head around the door, begging for treats. She's worse than my dog.

Glorious morning in the gully.

A few days later we were in Lake Powell, celebrating the Fourth of July (all about that HERE) 

Andy brought the kids home a little early to get them to Youth Conference. Even though Jonah was still 11 for a few more days, they let him go this year. And even though Laylah was 12 last year, it was a stake youth conference last year and you have to be 14 for those. So this was both of their first year going and they were pretty excited. The theme was B.O.O.T. Camp (Build Our Own Testimony) They met early on Friday morning and did a devotional in the church. They then drove up Hobble Creek Canyon to stay at a church campground that has a huge COPES Course and a really nice field and grassy area. The kids told me they played tons of games, had an awesome speaker that evening at a fireside, and accompanying testimony meeting. They talked around fires and camped out in tents. They also did the COPES course in teams and had spiritual messages along the way. They came home full of excitement and stories and just loved it. I was concerned about Jonah, being that he was only 11 and felt so new and out of place. He hadn't been attending Young Men as of yet, so he didn't know many people. But I am happy to report he absolutely loved it. And Laylah loves everything, so no surprises there.

Just Magnus, doing his thing one lovely summer evening.

Marcie, Katrina, and I went on a  beautiful hike on a Saturday morning on the Mount Aire trail in lieu of running and it was breathtakingly beautiful (that is my theme for the summer. Everything was so beautiful!!)

This is a little drawing Magnus did. He said that the guy on the right is stabbing the guy in the middle. It might be morbid, but I thought it was funny.

Since Laylah had just finished 7th grade, she was able to go to Oakcrest Girl's Camp with all the other girls in the stake who had just finished 7th grade. Her friend liberty was able to go with her (since she couldn't attend her own stakes Oakcrest camp dates) and they were happy to be going together. Laylah was so helpful and paid her way to Oakcrest by earning money making and selling chocolate chip cookies. She earned $120, the entire amount that it cost to go. I was so proud of her hard work. She is such an amazing gal. I love her dearly.

Jilly, Laylah, Hannah, and Korynn

These are all the girls her age in our ward.

And then Liberty arrived.

Getting on the bus and not looking back.

Laylah had a terrific week at Oakcrest. She came home full of stories, pictures, and lessons learned. She loved her counselors, Firefly and Chimichanga. They had so much fun growing their testimony's, playing games, eating in the mess hall, swimming, playing, and everything in between. She absolutely loved it. Here's a few photos she took or others took from the week:

Of course, we missed her while she was gone, and we were so happy to have her home again.

Just a beautiful artichoke.

Ice cream bars for FHE!

Temple date night

Some friends and I biked all summer. This particular morning I took a photo when I was at the back of the pack. We had ridden about 13 miles and we were about a mile from home when I got a flat. I sent my friends on their way because I was not prepared and had to run home barefoot with my bike in tow.

Made it after a nice little jog home!

It was Dress like a Cow Day at Chik Fil A, so we participated and got free dinner.

Beautiful breakfast :)

Another amazing Hiking Thursday with some beautiful friends of mine. We did Bells Canyon. It is a fairly easy hike, so we did it quickly up and ran back down to keep our heart rate up. It was gorgeous, as usual.

A group of kiddos in our ward (including my three middles) did a secret service project for a single mom in our ward. They weeded all of her flower beds and planted new, beautiful flowers in them. They did a fantastic job.

Our friends the Heath's invited us to go in their RZR for date night. It was so exciting and terrifying at the same time. Scott is kind of a crazy driver. Too bad we had a belt break after about 45 minutes, We had to run about 4 miles back to the car. Haha. But it was still so much fun. We went to dinner afterwards at a yummy pizza place. It was such a fun night.

Beautiful view.

Katrina and I sat in the back together, the boys were in front. This is our "scared to death" faces.

The boys trying to figure out the problem.

Running down the mountain.

We had a ward breakfast and bike parade for the primary kids. Magnus put crepe paper in his wheels. He's such a cutie.

The boys decided they wanted to play tackle football. We got them all signed up one morning and got all of their equipment.

This would be a whole new world for us! They have done flag football, but tackle is completely different. WAY more time commitment and a lot more dangerous.

The kids and I discovered snapchat. We had so much fun one afternoon with all of the filters. We were laughing hysterically.

Kaylie and I took the girls riding one afternoon. It was very hot and I got sunburned. But it was a blast and we had a lot of fun. Daphne rode Sage, Laylah rode Tess, I rode Jet, and Kaylie rode Nika. Luna is up in Logan and we miss that pretty pony!

Our cousin, Savanna, came and slept over, and then was able t go to Activity Girls' Day Camp with Daphne. It was a two day camp, all day long. They had a blast!

Kiddos playing games together. Oh, my heart.

Silly boy came in wearing my foot boot one morning.

Katrina and I are the Relief Society activity committee heads and we got together to choose some crafts for Super Saturday. We had to actually do them so that we could display them and people could sign up for the ones they wanted to do. We spent one afternoon crafting away.

Our neighborhood has a 24th of July tradition of sidewalk chalk in the cul de sac behind our house. It's amazing and all the people who participate are incredible artists. I always just admire, never participate.

Mag and I had a hankering for toasted marshmallows. Naturally, we just did it over the stove, haha.

Tired Andy with his phone in his hand, haha.

I made a s'mores dessert one night. It's butter, chocolate, and marshmallows, all cooked together. Then you dip graham crackers in it. SO GOOD!

One night while riding my bike along the Jordan River Parkway, I literally almost ran into some deer that jumped out in front of me. I love seeing wild animals up close. It's so cool.

We had our Relief Society Summer Social. This is the only photo I got. We were crazy busy, all day long, setting everything up. It was in Katrina's back yard and because it was SO HOT, we had to set up canopies all over the yard and then set up tables and chairs so they would be in the shade when it came time for the activity to start. It had a family history theme. We had a barbecue style dinner and then had about 5 or 6 people talk about a special family history memory from their family. It was so touching and the night turned out extremely well. I loved it. I talked to everyone at the end about how important it is to keep a journal and our own family history. We had computers set up so people could be set up on the Family Search website. We had our Super Saturday crafts set up so people could sign up. Everything just turned out wonderfully, and i was glad when it was over, haha. As usual.

Magnus lost his first tooth! The Tooth Fairy came and it was exciting as ever.

Thursday Hike Day! We did Mount Aire again, except went to the very tip top. It was absolutely incredible. Views for hundreds of miles, on both sides of the mountains. Salt Lake on one side, Park City on the other. Incredible.

We had a date night at Rubio's and Jaxynn (one of my Young Women) was working (free drinks, woohoo!). And then Andy got a bloody nose and she and I couldn't stop laughing.

Laylah Heart Attacked my bedroom door and reminded me all over again why I love being a mother. It made my day and was the sweetest thing ever.

Daphne's soccer team played in a summer tourney and did pretty well. They lost a few, tied a few, and won one. This little group of girls have played so well together and have some great coaches.

Jonah's big birthday gift came in the mail, finally. He LOVES it and still wears it all the time.

Here's our craft table for Super Saturday all set up for people to sign up.

We went to dinner with just our family at the end of July at my parents house. That one on one time is alwasy nice.

Snapchat with grandma! She thought it was hilarious.

Papa Bry playing with Sadie. Comparing tongue lengths, haha.

Bat Girl.

And at the end of the night we realized Laylah had passed up grandma in height. Jonah was quite shocked, as you can see, hahaha.

And that was our July! That, on top of all of the other posts from the month (Lake Powell, Jonah's birthday, Camping at Gooseberry, Magnus' Room Reveal, etc etc) it was a great month. It was so dang hot all month long and I was so happy when August hit because I knew the temps would start to lower. But that is more for another day!