fireworks!

eli was in absolute pyro heaven. he loves explosions, fire, melting...you know, all the fun stuff:)

      

the cul-de-sac was a perfect place for the show…

for the 4th we went down to ann morrison part to watch the big show.  we sat up close and had the full experience with ash raining down on us.  jesse brought a rocket and bubbles to pass the time while waiting for the fireworks…

there was lots of bubble eating…

us…

the camps…

more camps:)…

hailey had lyla.  they have a great time together…

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

pine flats birthday camping

we went camping with the porterfields and some other friends for zoe's birthday, and since adam and zoe share a birthday, we brought a cake for him too:)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!

giving some pointers

lyla and the birthday girl

i love pine flats. the hotsprings and river run together, so there are so many fun places to play

he's the sweetest little guy

our campsite

the kids made bow and arrows...

oh my goodness... 

on a hike to the top to see where the hot springs come out

tats!

getting ready for the piñata.
thanks porterfield family! we had a really fun weekend!

the main street mile

all ready for the ice cream, uh, i mean the race! haha

sophi and zoe ran with us 

getting ready...

success!

eli's red cheeks, he worked hard!!!

cool kids

they are actually using the sunglasses we bought!...usually glasses are used for decoraiting the floor of my car.

The doctor

lyla had a swollen finger today for no apparent reason, so we took a trip to the fantastical dr. jambora.  the reason i'm blogging about this?  she wasn't scared. she didn't cry. she didn't scream.  she DID speak, even before being spoken to. she DID make casual conversation with the nurse and doctor.  she allowed the exam and followed all instructions with a calmness i've never seen. 

for those of you that know little lyla, she is shy.  many people who've known her her whole life have only recently heard her speak in more than a whisper.  

all this to say...she is growing up.  i love her new confidence.  now the others get to know the lyla we know at home. 

around the house

whenever we visit my brothers the kiddos really don’t want to leave the house.   there are outbursts of “i don’t wanna’ go!” every time we announce a departure.  they always have fun once we get to our destination, but they are happy to just hang out at home.  so we oblige them sometimes…

feeding scoobs…

and "camp" fires are always fun…

old friends

we were able to visit with some old friends while we were down.  lemore now has an almost-one-year-old, thomas.  he was as sweet as could be…until he started pushing me away.  i'm cracking up here because his little hand is pushing my head away.

lyla and thomas… 

we also got to see travis.  he and i grew up together.  he’s one of those people in life that you don’t remember ever not knowing.  as along as i can remember our moms were best friends and they were always like part of the family.  he no longer lives in SD so we haven’t seen each other in a long time, about 8 years.  it was REALLY good to see him and catch up on life. 

lyla was smitten with travis.  she pulled out all the stops and showed him all her stunts. “do you want to see how high i can jump?” and “watch this” and “do you want to see how strong/fast/tall i am?”  it was pretty cute.