July--busy busy

July was a very fun and busy month for us. We had a fun 4th of July. All three kids got to be in the parade here in Fillmore. Kylie was on the float for Dancerz Edge and Garrett and Connor were on our ward float. They loved throwing candy to all their friends. We spent a few minutes at the park afterwards and then took the kids swimming. The best part about Fillmore 4th of July is the fireworks that night. They have a wonderful firework show that goes on straight for almost 20 minutes. It was awesome. We did sit a little close this year and got a few ashes in our eyes but the show was spectacular.

The next weekend we had my family come down for a weekend. The kids LOVED it. They got to spend the whole weekend playing with their cousins. We had a fun weekend of hanging out and playing games. The first night my sister Mandee came down with my mom and dad and we took the kids to the pool. They loved that. My dad slept on the tramp the first night with Connor and my nephew Ethan. That was probably a fun night for them. We had people stuffed all over the place but it was sure a fun time. My brother brought his bouncy waterslide and that was fun (and cold) for the kids. We had kind of cooler temperatures that weekend (which was nice) but made it kind of cold to get wet. There is a place my kids like to walk to get shaved ice and we made probably four or five trips during their stay. Hope we make this a yearly event. It is nice to have people to come and visit.

At the end of the month I got to take Kylie to the American Idol concert. We loved watching it this year because we were both major Colton Dixon fans. She LOVES him!!! We were Phillip Phillips fans too. She loved going to the concert with me. We made a "Colton's #1 Fan" shirt for her. We got a picture of Colton from a gal at the place we had dinner and she held it up during the whole concert and she told me "He isn't even going to see it Mom" (we were pretty far away). She thought for some reason he would look up and see her holding the picture. It was pretty cute. The lady who gave her the picture told us if you go behind the venue after they come out and sign for autographs and pictures so we did just that. My brother and his wife Alyssa came with us so we were able to get pictures with Colton, Phillip and Skylar. Colton talked to us a bit and saw Kylie's shirt and told her how cute it was. After he got the picture with her everybody "Awwwwed" and he said "I know..it's cute right?" She was in heaven. He was so super nice. Now she kisses the picture all the time and we tease her that he is her boyfriend. She loves to listen to his music. It is tooo cute. She is 4 years old and has her first "crush."

Also at the end of May my brother in law got married and we gained a new sister-in-law Ruth. It was a beautiful wedding and we got a few new family pics out of it. I will put them in another post. August came really fast and my kids will be starting school in less than a week. Garrett moves up to middle school and Connor will be starting 2nd grade and Kylie will be going to preschool (at the elementary). Crazy how time flies by. We are slowly counting down time until our vacation in February (six more months)!!!! Can't wait. Just have to take it one month at a time.