HAPPY JULY!!!!

July has been flying by!  We came home from Utah for about 4 days, did some laundry, weeded some gardens, went to the 4th of July parade, spent the 4th with our double related relatives and then headed out for our next grand adventure...

We traveled to Wyoming for a family reunion we have there every year.  Spent a day or 2 with my grandparents, decided that we are going to try our very hardest to get a teaching job over there, and had a near fatal accident.  Ok, ok.  Maybe not quite that traumatic, but it was pretty scary.  Brinlee, my dad and my brother Sean were behind my aunt and uncle's trailer when it began to roll backwards.  Luckily my dad was able to push Brin out of the way and Sean grabbed her quick and got her to safety.  It was a crazy moment, but luckily everyone is a-ok!

Here is our parade attire and happy faces before the parade began.

After our reunion in Wyoming, MJ came home to work for a few more days and I traveled to Utah with my family so that my kiddies could once again participate in the swimming lessons down there. 

MJ came down on Thursday and was able to attend their last lesson with them.  He was supposed to take pictures but didn't get that done, so here are the few I was able to get.

Aidan loved swimming lessons.  He is fearless of water and was really excited to go everyday.  He was in a class with 4 little girls.  What a lucky fella. 

Brinlee got to do some pretty cool things in lessons this year.  Here they are playing tag while swimming on noodles.  It was hilarious to watch and I really like the concept of swimming with the noodles.  Her teacher was super great which is what she really needed.  She is timid about deep water.  She loves swimming but needs a little more confidence.

**Side note:  Cambree graduated from swimming lessons last year.  That girl is a fish and loves, loves, loves to swim.  She came to watch swimming lessons on the 1st day but it was absolute torture for her to watch her siblings swim when she couldn't so she didn't come watch again.  Poor little Cam...

COLE IS ONE!!!!!!

Yep.  Baby Cole is now 1.  I was hoping that this would mean a miraculous personality change, but alas, he is still mean...  He cries and screams and doesn't stop.  Someday when he reads this I hope he understands that I love his darling little face.  I REALLY DO!  But, man oh man, is this baby miserable with life. 

We were able to celebrate his birthday down in Utah with my brother Sean who's birthday is 2 days after Cole's.  So we had the party in between and celebrated on Friday the 13th.  It was really fun.  Andy and Kristin and Crew came up for dinner, some of Sean's friends stopped by and his girlfriend JaNeil was there and so it was quite the crowd.

Cole didn't get to open any of his presents.  Aidan made sure of that.  He basically just sat there in silence (My birthday gift from him???) and watched as Aidan tore through all the paper. 

However, he took care of his own cake.  We just grabbed this perfect little cake from the store and he loved it.  It was fun watching him tear into the cake when he realized it was super delicious.

This is the ice cream cake that I  made for Sean.  It was also super delicious but Sean didn't tear into it like Cole did his.  How strange... :)

This is our newest member of our family that we got during the birthday party.  Yes.  We brought a pet home from Utah.  Yes, it is a kitten.  Yes, I did run over our last kitten and vowed to never get another pet for the rest of my life.  My mom talked me into it.  The kids did their part of pestering me about it and MJ said it would be good with him.  So, now we have a cat.  That lives IN our house!!!  I am pretty sure that having 4 kids has made me completely lose my mind!!!  COMPLETELY!

Anyway, meet Simone.  We aren't sure if it is a boy or girl.  Uh.... Either way this cat will be getting fixed at the appropriate time.  And I have to admit I sort of like it.  Sort of...

Aidan likes to fall asleep in his doorway at night.  The 2nd night we had our kitten this is where we found both the fellas. Aidan is slightly timid around the kitty but does ok.  I thought this would be a fun thing for him to see when he woke up the next morning.

(I must mention here that Aidan has a horrible fear of dogs.  It was really awful for a while there.  He is getting better and I think with having a little kitten to deal with it will help ease the problem of dogs some.  I hope....)

Since we have been home, we have been spending a lot of time in our backyard enjoying lazy summer days.  It has been anything but a lazy summer the past few weeks so it is good to slow down a bit and spend some time doing nothing but cooling off in the pool. 

And practicing tricks.  Ha ha.

Oh and let us never forget to style our baby brother's hair while swimming...