July 4th & Willard Bay

 We had such a fun 4th of July.  Nathan and Stephanie invited us to join them on the Provo Freedom Parade route.  Nathan braved the dark and early streets and we met up with him at the spot he saved for us.  I loved the parade!  We had a nice shady spot, the kids had so much fun playing, and we loved catching up with Nathan and Stephanie.

Cute Girls at the parade...

Brooke, Candace, Megan, and William

Our family (the girls were so cooperative...not)

Nathan and Stephanie, Henry and William.  They are also expecting a baby boy in the fall!

After our fun morning in Provo, we had a get together with us, Ali and her kids, and Heather and Randy up in Bountiful.  Heather brought her face painting supplies.

Kitty cat Brooke.

Puppy Megan.  Haha, I loved this face painting!

Even little Candace sat still for a few minutes to get her face painted.

July 5 was another busy and fun day.  We all chipped in on renting a boat, tubes, and a wakeboard to take up to Willard Bay for the day.  

My little girls plus Alyssa.

Our family resting on the big tube

Heather and Alyssa enjoying the beach.   That gave us a fun spot to play and relax while taking turns on the boat.  With our little kids, we mostly stuck to the beach and our kids swam and swam and played!  Dan and Megan and Brooke enjoyed turns tubing.

Dan, Megan, and Brooke on the tube!

Brooke loved swimming around

More Utah Fun

On Monday, Grandma took Alonzo and Megan out for their kindergarten date. They got to pick out some clothes for school and get a fast food lunch! They were so cute and excited.

While Alonzo and Megan were with Grandma, Michelle, Heather, Ali, and I took the rest of the kids to the new splashpad at Foxboro.  I love all these amazing sisters-in-law and their cute kids!

On Tuesday July 2, we headed out to the Hogle Zoo.  We are happy that the Houston zoo gets us a discount! 

Brothers!  Dan, 33 and Ben, 23

Our crazy monkeys...

Tyler, Jake, Brooke, Megan, Candace

We loved the bird show, especially that it was in the shade!

On our way out from the zoo, we stopped by Grandma Great's house.  The girls loved eating her raspberries, playing on the swings, and getting hugs from Grandma Great.  We love Grandma's welcoming arms and happy smiles.

We caught up with some of Dan's cousins that evening.  It was fun to catch up with Jeff and Steve and their families for a little bit.

 We got up on Wednesday July 3 and headed to check out the new City Creek mall downtown.  We liked walking along the river and window shopping.

We met up with some of my Utah aunts and cousins at the food court/playplace there and it was fun as always to see them.  

Aunt Pam

Aunt Terri, Aunt Tobi, Jennie (her cute boys were there playing with my girls)

After City Creek, we went down the road to Maren's house.  Megan, Brooke, Candace, Brigham, Ben, and Anna.  They were loud and happy and got along great.

Another year, another baby coming for each of us.  Our little boy is coming in November, and Maren has a little girl on the way in October.  I am so glad we get to raise kids along side each other--even from states away.

Ben (4), Candace (almost 2), Megan (5), Brigham (6), Brooke (almost 4)

Family Reunion 2013

It was our year to plan the family reunion.  Dan and I were excited.  We rented a cabin near Heber that the whole Aird crew (29 people!) could fit in for 2 nights and 2 days together.  We had a good drive out there.  The kids watched movies and napped and ate snacks and occasionally fussed but overall did well.

Cute girls--we left early on June 26

We pulled into Park City around 3 pm on June 27 and headed to Walmart to grab groceries for our food assignments.  We could check in to the cabin at 3:30 pm and everyone got there by dinnertime.  There was ping-pong, a pool table, and a fun theater room.  We had fun getting all settled in.  We had dinner and Dan did a quick devotional.  After dinner right when I was ready to relax, Michelle came to find me and ask for help cleaning up in her room, saying her littlest had had an accident.  I was a little annoyed, but searched and found some cleaning supplies and made my way down to her room.  When I opened the door, surprise!  There was no accident, just an excuse to surprise me with a baby shower for our little boy on the way.  It was so fun and we felt so loved.

Heather made cupcakes and Jane and others helped with decorations...

 
Sarah, Michelle, Clara, Savannah

After the shower, we played, kids tried the hot tub, and eventually we had a karaoke competition and stayed up way too late laughing and singing.

Michelle and Ali hanging out in the family room

Sarah and Grandma

Alyssa

Lily, Megan, Savannah

 
Dan and Robby playing pool

Ben relaxing

Alonzo, Tyler, Will, and Isaac playing video games in the theater room

Girls table at dinner

Boys at dinner

Cute Candy and Dan.  Good thing she's cute since once we got to the cabin she forgot everything she'd learned about potty training and was in diapers again!

Michelle and Robby and baby Luke

Ali and "Ben".  He was the only one in the family that wasn't with us--he was in Afghanistan for work all summer.

Randy and Heather

Grandma and Papa

Dan and I

Alyssa and Candy and their little curly heads were pretty cute together

Sitting down for devotional and prayer

Ready for a movie (Candy, Megan, Lily, Sarah)

The older cousins (Will, Clara, Savannah, Jake, Isaac)

The ping-pong table was outside on this shaded pavilion

Karaoke!

Day 2 (June 28) started with breakfast and then walking to the bus stop nearby.  We split into 4 teams for a photo scavenger hunt in Park City.  It was so fun.  Here we are heading to the bus stop.

We all ran around finding things like:  someone posing like a statue, someone eating a caramel apple, someone in a tree, your whole team in a bathroom stall, etc

Team one

 Team two

Team three

More of team three (Randy was there too)

Team four

We headed back for lunch and relaxing.  Most of the group headed to a nearby park to play before dinner.  That night after dinner and a devotional by Ken we watched slideshows of all the group's pictures. 

Cute group of girls:  Candy, Sarah, Megan, Lily, Brooke

Ken and Wynnie

Alyssa

Luke

Our last morning (June 29) we got up, ate breakfast, and cleaned up.  We took some pictures before heading to Bountiful.  It meant so much to Dan and I that everyone made an effort to be together and to participate in all of our plans.  We had a blast!

Our cabin

Ali, Alonzo, Whitney, baby Luke

Amberly, Spencer, Boston, Clara, baby Wynnie

Robby, Michelle, Savannah, Will, Isaac, Sarah

Heather, Randy, Tyler, Jake, Lily, Alyssa

Dan, Amber, Megan, Brooke, Candy

Mom and Dad

Ben

Grandma and Papa and all the grandkids!

Mom and Dad and all their kids