Fourth of July

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the 4th? It's one of my favorite holidays because it's in the summertime (yay), it's simple, and the fireworks.

I remember sitting out on the fence when I was a little girl and watching them from far away. I just loved watching the burst of color in the sky.

We always start the morning with a breakfast to go as we head out to the 4th of July Parade.

These boys were so excited for the big day!






Traditional pictures (and a very messy boy..so messy we had to go straight home after and wash these clothes ha)











With the statue we get pictures by every single year.








A new tradition perhaps? The jumping picture.





The cutest little camper...oh my.





Then we headed home to prepare for our 4th of July party. It was so much fun!


This is my mom and dad, and my aunt and uncle. These ladies are sisters and they are precious. My aunt got in a car wreck a few weeks ago. She rolled her car 8 times. By the grace of God she was okay and came away with some broken ribs. We are so blessed to have her in our lives!











My sweetest cousin and one of my best friends with her littlest.





The girl table...I'm not used to one of those! *grin*









And the boy table:









The flowers. I had a lot of fun decorating if you can imagine.








And at last we headed to the fireworks.








It was such a beautiful day.

Why, Hello

I keep thinking I'll have some time to sit down and load pictures and write, but it obviously hasn't happened yet.

Over the last few weeks we have been camping in New Mexico, painted the kitchen and entry, started school (you see, we've had a big break during our move..so time to wrap things up in the school dept.), and I started selling Mary Kay (which I'm really enjoying)!

We are planning a Fourth of July party (yay)! I have also been on a frugal shopping and organizing kick. I mean, I got 4 pair of hiking, snow, and rain boots for my boys for $1 a piece! I also picked up plates and cutlery for our party at .50 a pack,  and I even found a favorite pair of shoes on clearance for $10 and I did NOT even get them because I didn't want to spend that much haha. What is going on with me?!

I will post pictures of our kitchen as soon as we hang the curtains. I can't wait for you to see it!

I've also been trying to go on evening walks as much as possible. I don't think I'll ever tire of this neighborhood and looking at these houses. I could walk for hours if my boys didn't get so tired...or wet their pants...a story for another time hahaha!

I will post pictures of my decor and organizing hopefully this next week! Look what i found:

I really want to make this..it looks SO good, especially on the 100+ degree days!

Weekend in OKC

We spent Memorial Day weekend together in Oklahoma City. We booked a kid friendly hotel with a fabulous pool right off of Bricktown. We spent our days swimming and the evenings walking Bricktown in search of a place to eat dinner. We had wonderful meals at The Cheesecake Factory, Fuzzy's Taco Shop, Crabtown, Panera Bread, and lunch at the zoo.


We spent a beautiful and hot Sunday morning at the zoo. The bears, giraffes, hippos, and monkeys were all so much fun to see, and the tigers were DARLING. They were full of energy as they wrestled and played in the water as their momma watched under a shade tree. The dad was here one minute, and gone the next. All of a sudden we saw him creeping low and watching. Watching the momma. He waited and finally..POUNCE! She jumped and he gave her a playful and loving rub with his head against hers the way cats do to someone they really love.


Really, one of the sweetest moments I've ever seen.


Another wonderful moment that captivated the boys..well all of us really, is about the only moment I got any pictures of the whole time because, you guessed it, my camera battery died. Again.


We went in to visit the most beautiful birds from Australia. They were just walking around all over the place. You could also feed them. Someone gave us their leftovers, so we got to spend time feeding these gorgeous birds!


Helping Jaiden feed them:






This was Tristin's favorite moment of the day:






Brighton enjoying the birds:





These birds were just stunning!!










I just stand amazed at God's attention to detail and creativity! Glory to God!

Family Time

It's rather funny to name a post "family time" since the majority of our time spent is family time; but this felt special. Quiet. One of the most lovely days spent together in a while.


It's hard after you move to get back into just living. I think we've found our place again.






We headed out to the Canyon to just be. It was a beautiful day out.




The boys found some walking sticks and joked that they will hunt snakes with them....2 steps later my husband said", stop, there's a snake."  What?! And there he was. A rattle snake. I voted to find another trail..and we did.









We hiked up to the cave. it just amazed me how much these boys have grown since last year. They made it up the whole way themselves, and they weren't finished yet!






















We found more trails, and tons of interesting plants, creeks, huts, and animals along the way.
























It always amazes me how peaceful it is down there.







On our way home we "ran" into Food Network's traveling food truck show (I don't know if that's what it's called. We don't watch much tv, but it's something like that.) So we stopped in for tacos from Alaska, and waffles from L.A. It was really great food and a fun experience.

Our New Home

***Okay< blogger has really changed things up on me. I cannot figure out how to get it to look nice...working on it. Hello! Wow, what a busy month it has been. We are settling in nicely, and I finally found my camera charger, so why not share some pictures. Please excuse the little messes and plastic still on new lamps in the background of some pictures. This has been a slow process..ha. We are already starting on painting, so I will add updates when we are finished. This is the house..how we moved in. Okay! Come on in. The very small entry. Our kitchen. Our family room. My favorite little reading corner. A sleeping boy and a dutch door! The landing. One little boy's room..the cleanest one ha. Master bathroom. Please excuse the wrapping on lamps and the sonic cup ;) Our bedroom..so far. That is all that is in this massive room...haha, this room is the same size as the family room, our bed looks tiny in here. We will get to it someday! So there is a peek of most of our home. I will be sure to invite you in as we work on it! P.S. It's good to be back here. Hope you are all doing well!