A Busy Week!

A friend of mine took a picture of her kids in a bright yellow canola field last summer and ever since I saw it I have wanted to do that with our kids!  A word to the wise...do not try and do it on the way to church on a dewy morning--or you will have to go home and change a mischievous little boys nice Sunday pants because he just couldn't resist sitting on the bare ground after walking through the dewy canola!!  I should have waited until the canola was up a little higher too!  But despite the minor challenges I think the pictures turned out great!

July marks a very busy month of birthdays for our family!  My younger sister's is on July 10th, my mom's is on July 15th, my niece Lily has hers on July 18th, my dad's is on July 19th, my Grandma Bev's is the 25th, and the newest addition is our teeny tiny nephew Jonas on July 6th!  I also have a few extended family July birthday's, but these few are the ones we see quite regularly!  Because my super sweet little sister was baling for her birthday we didn't get a chance to celebrate it, and then a few short days later her and her husband Buck were in a horrible car crash.  Thankfully she is okay but will have to endure a long and tedious healing process with two badly broken ankles.  So for my mom's birthday, Arren's daughter Lily's birthday and my dad's birthday we decided to have a little party right in Arren's hospital room!  It was a lot of fun with great food (Pizza from the New Club in Vulcan), a delicious dessert (a Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream cake from the Marble Slab) and great company!  I love my family so much and I am always so grateful for the many opportunities we have to get together!

These two cousins are inseparable!

The day of Lily's actual 4th birthday was spent at our house, we went to the Library for the Summer Reading Program and swimming!

We gave her this cute frog stuffy (Lily is as obsessed as Emry with stuffies), Arren calls Lily Lila quite often and this happens to be the frogs name too!

The July Birthday Bunch!  Dad, Arren, Lily and Mom!

Arren and Gilbert

When we feed Armin his food without him sitting in a high chair Jared has to pin his arms  down by his sides, he really doesn't seem too bothered by it!

To celebrate our pioneer heritage we had our annual Pioneer Potluck tonight!  The Young Women hosted it, they told of the heritage of some of the girls great grandmothers, it was really interesting to hear what these women went through to pave the way for us today.  I am so grateful for all those who have come before us and for the strength they had to have to face the many trials they were dealt.  The evening was a lot of fun as all our church activities are!  The kids had an absolute blast playing games (actually everyone young and old played the games together!), the games included a number matching game, a barnyard scramble for candy, tug of war and baseball!  

Calum makes his own fun--rolling down the hill!

Sophie Smith and Autumn Jackson

It was actually quite chilly this evening!  Emry so badly wanted to look like a pioneer, and she was so happy she had a jean skirt she could wear!

Despite the busyness and the stress of Buck and Arren's accident it was a wonderful week!  I will be able to spend a lot of time with Arren and for once she will just have to sit and relax instead of moving about doing odd little things while we visit!!  I look forward to what the rest of the summer will bring!