My birthday and the 4th of July

For my birthday this year we went to the aquarium as a family. It was so much fun! My favorite animal is a stingray. I love them. I've loved them since we got to feed and pet wild ones on the tiny island in the middle of nowhere in the Bahamas with Uncle Avard. They are like cats! They love to be touched and will come up and rub up against you. They feel so cool and are so super friendly. They have a place in the aquarium where there is a giant tank full of a bunch of different kind of rays. They swim right up to the top and let you touch them. It is my favorite thing! I could stay there all day. The girls loved it too. We got to see sharks and sea turtles and seals. It was an awesome aquarium. The girls all loved it. We found Dori, Nemo and Hank. So that was awesome. The octopus (hank) was moving all over the place. It was a good time and the perfect thing to do on my birthday. 

Then we went home and relaxed for the afternoon. Kyle got me a fun DQ ice cream cake and the best surprise ever! A new bike!!! I haven't had a bike since I was little. I am so excited to have one again. And its a freaking cute one. Now I need to get Abby riding her two wheeler so that we can go on bike rides together. 

Our 4th of July was a lot better than last year. Seriously last year was not fun. SO HOT! It was equally as hot this year, but we were smarter about how we dealt with it. 

We started out the day going to the bike parade at the church. I was asked to lead the parade so I rode my hoverboard. It was pretty funny. Jane was the last one around the church on her scooter. But she did it! Then we headed to Bosa donuts for breakfast. This is our new favorite 4th of July tradition and its pretty fun. We relaxed all afternoon and then headed to the Cordners to BBQ for dinner. I made kabobs and they were delicious! 

Then we headed home and set off a bunch of fireworks in the street in front of our house. It was fun because everyone on our street was shooting them off too! The best part was the city of Gilbert had their big firework show at Higley High School which is right down the street from us! We could see all the fireworks from our front yard. It was perfect. We didn't have sit for hours in the heat waiting for the show to start. And then when it was over we just walked right in the house and got everyone in bed. The girls were not big fans of the fireworks. Such a bummer! We had to beg them to stay outside with us. 

After we got the girls down we watched the episode of John Adams where they sign the Declaration of Independence. Well I fell asleep half way through! But I love watching that on the 4th. Its such a humbling experience. I love this country!! 

Petting the rays

the girls would color in these little sea creatures and then scan them in and they would show up swimming around on that big screen. It was super cool. 

There were bumper boats that Abby and Jules rode on. Jane was too small. And she was SOOOOOOO mad about it. She wants to do what they do and she can't understand why she can't. 

Jules was so mad when we had to leave. 

Jane painted herself and the table with the cake. 

4th of July bike parade. 7:30 in the morning and already in the 90s. SO HOT! 

None of them would touch the sparklers. 

bumper boats! 

My new bike!! 

Jane's decorated scooter. I totally dropped the ball on decorating and did it in 5 minutes before we left. So they weren't the most creative. 

I love having my birthday so close to the 4th! Two great days in a row! 

June

To be honest I was dreading the month of June. Summer in Arizona can be hard. Everyone leaves and it gets really really hot! Kyle was going to be working lots of extra time to cover for other doctors taking time off. I was super nervous how it was going to go. Last June about did me in. But this year could not have been more different!! We had a great month! It was hot, and yes so many friends and family were out of town, but we had some wonderful adventures. We swam, and swam and swam and swam some more. We had swimming lessons. We had cousins and aunts and uncles come visit! We went on a really fun adventure to Eager with friends. We ate our weight in popsicles. We went and toured the new tucson temple. We even took some time to do some yoga and relax. It was a seriously a good time. 

I saw this picture on Instagram. I about died. It is me. 

Going swimming at mama and poppi's house. We did this a lot. They may have been out of town, but the pool still got a lot of good use this summer! 

We made play dough. That was a really fun time. 

We learned about temples and temple recommends to get us ready to go to the tucson open house. 

Kyle had a continuing education in Utah one week. He had been invited to a baseball game Tuesday night. Then was working 7-7 on wednesday, up super early for work thursday and then straight to the airport from work. He wasn't going to get back until late Saturday night. I was dreading it. It was a long time to be on my own. I know a lot of people deal with a lot more business trips and traveling than we do. I'm so grateful thats not kyle's life! I need him at home. He is my partner in everything and its hard to have him gone. My parents were out of town, my aunt and her family were out of town, my grandparents were out of town and Tim and Kelly were going out town too. I was so bummed! Then my awesome friend Whittlee texted me and asked me if I wanted to come up to her parents cabin in Eager, AZ. Her husband was going to scout camp and she wanted to get out of the heat. It was so awesome! It was a long drive, but we made it! We had so much fun playing together and spending time talking. We rode 4 wheelers and played in the cool weather. It was a great time. 

We headed home Friday so we could go to a birthday party Saturday morning. We had a fun girls night. We made cookies and watched the new Beauty and the Beast. I had made baked ziti, which the girls all love. But Juliet has a new annoying habit of not wanting to eat dinner. Ever. She throws a fit and refuses to feed herself. I was so busy taking care of everyone and trying to clean up the kitchen so we could watch the movie that I just couldn't deal with it. Next thing I know Abby was sitting next to Jules, feeding her bite by bite so that she didn't have to miss out on the movie. They are the best sisters! 

The next day was the funnest Star Wars birthday party. The girls had a blast. Saturday night we went out to Mod pizza. Just us girls. It was so much fun. They are the sweetest girls ever. I am so incredibly blessed to be their mom! 

The picture we sent to Kyle from the cabin when he wouldn't answer our FaceTime. 

making cookies! 

Watching Beauty and the Beast together. 

So much coloring. All the time. We have had more art than we could ever handle or display! 

Lightsaber fights at the birthday party. Abby dominated. 

What Jane's hair looks like when its not pulled up. I really don't want to cut her bangs! But I have to constantly keep it tied up. 

Its been so fun going to mutual again! 

Our washer finally gave out. I love the new set!!! 

So many popsicles! 

Halee slept over one night with us. We love halee!! 

The only way to get Jane to take a nap is to lay next to her bed and tell her to close her eyes a million times. She is so dang cute. 

We got Maizee for a couple nights again. She is the cutest ever. 

We convinced Annie and Val to have dinner and get sodalicious with us! 

Before church Father's day picture. These girls are the luckiest. He is the best dad in the whole world. 

He is so very loved! 

We were lucky enough to go down to the Tucson Temple open house. We tried to go a week earlier. But I woke up Sunday night throwing up all night. The girls were so sad we had to wait a week to go. They were so excited. We drove down and had some lunch. Then watched a video about temple in a church building and then they bussed us over to temple. Jane was being the biggest pill. She was so tired and she was being a stink. She wouldn't leave the shoe coverings on her feet. So I had to hold her the whole time and she would get so mad anytime we had to stop walking. She had to have her own seat on the bus too. With the seatbelt on. Thanks Jane for making the day special. *Insert eye roll emoji here* But I was so glad we were able to go. I can't wait for the day we all get to be in the temple together. 

It was SOOOOO hot. We sat in front of an AC unit for a couple minutes to try and cool down. 

We stopped at some awesome outlets on our way back from the temple. They had a disney store outlet! We got this StarWars T-shirt for Abby. She would wear it every single day if she could. 

Doing some yoga before bed. 

We've been doing a lot of reading this summer. We've got to keep this girls skills sharp for 1st grade! 

I love this baby! 

My twinner goof balls. 

Helping me prepare Sunday dinner. I love how much they want to help and be involved in what I'm doing. I hope they always do. 

I was able to take Keri's maternity pictures. They turned out so beautifully! 

Swimming lessons! They had swimming lessons for 4 days and it was absolutely amazing to see the progress they made. They went from not being able to jump in the pool to swimming! It was so awesome. I was so proud of my brave girls. 

He is the best girl dad in the world. 

Angell and her girls came down for Keri's baby shower. It was so much fun to have them. My girls were all smitten by baby Ivan. 

Cousins are too much fun! 

We had all the girls come over for a sleepover. It was so much fun! 

So much dress up in our house. Its perfect. 

Kyle's fun night at the baseball game! 

look at all that food. I was a little jealous. 

Kyle sent me this picture and said this is why I can't live without you. He wore the wrong shirt to the wrong office. So funny! 

It was such a beautiful temple. The colors inside were so amazing. 

Its sooooo hot! 

Temple date to do sealings. 

We went to a wedding reception in the same place we had ours. It was so fun to take the girls there. 

All the girls piled in the den watching a movie. I hope we get to do lots more of these over the years!