Yet again we ended up camping in the back yard, at least this year we had a fire so we smelled like we had been camping for real. Its sad to think that summer is coming to an end, this has been one of the funnest ever for me. I keep thinking that latter on in life I will wish I could go back for just one of these weekends and watch my little kids play in the pool or sit around the campfire. 
The girls thought it was a great surprise too and made me one of their own.
So this is a fun story. My Birthday was on Thursday and on Wednesday night John came home from swimming with the young men in our ward and was looking for some clean underwear and believe me, there was none to be found in his drawer. So I'm sitting on the couch reading a book after putting the kids to bed and John comes out saying something about how it is Wednesday and there is no clean underwear in his drawer when it should have been in there on Monday. I didn't bother looking up from my book for half of his "what kind of housewife are you lecture" (he was joking of course). It consisted of the usual "at the end of the work day I should be standing at the door in a house dress with a smile and a kiss and dinner on the table and on Monday's his underwear drawer should be full of clean underwear with a little chocolate just to tell him how much I love him." He does this as a joke once in a while and thinks it's sooo funny. So I finally look up from my book to play along with his little joke and see that he is standing there in his Birthday suit with a huge smile on his face like he had just told the funnies joke ever! It was funny and we both laughed then I reassured him that tomorrow for my birthday I would love to fill his underwear drawer, it would be the highlight of my birthday...so here you go, I had to include this in my birthday blog.
Later I baked myself a cake and some mini cup cakes for the kids to decorate, I didn't pay close enough attention and when I finally checked on Brock he had eaten his cupcake with the paper still on it. For the next half an hour I kept wondering how his digestive tract was going to handle that paper.
I made maybe not my favorite dinner but one I was going to obsess over until I had it, Mom's pot roast, potatoes and gravy, carrots and onions, yorkshire pudding and corn. I took hours and I dirtied every dish in the house but I didn't worry about that because I made sure to commit John to the dishes before I attempted something so messy. It was awesome I dirtied all these dishes without a care in the world, it was like spending someone else's money, all pleasure, no consequences. 
We had the Sister Missionary's over for dinner last night and then convinced them to stay and roast marshmallows with us. I hold a soft spot for the sisters considering I was one once. I had so many wonderful families on my mission that would invite us to dinner, or let us do laundry at there house or invite us over for the holidays.
My kids found this nest of baby bunnies pushed up against our sand box. It was a FUN discovery! It brought back some of my favorite childhood memories, we use to raise rabbits and we would pack around baby bunnies like they were our baby dolls.
In the spring a bird nested in our pine tree with her babies. I have to admit unlike the bunnies I had moments when I wanted to throw rocks at the mother. She used the back of our house for a toilet. Everyday I would go out to find about fifteen new poop bombs on our siding and deck but I couldn't bring myself to harm the bird because she was a very diligent mother to her babies and what mother can't appreciate that.
This is our chipmunk house and it doubles as our front porch. It may be a little unsightly but at least it serves a good purpose.
McKenna is aspiring to be a minivan driver. This is her luxury minivan. I'm sure you can't see all the details but the Frisbee is the steering wheel, the quacker is the horn, she has a happy meal toy that plays music for the stereo system and a lolly pop toy that resembles a key chain, it is five passenger no less and as you can see she finds plenty of people who want to carpool in her cool ride. She has quite the imagination, it's really fun to watch her creations take form.
This is the girls eagerly awaiting the parade to start. McKenna came prepared for a lot of candy, she brought her back pack. I wouldn't want her to injure her back hauling all that candy home in a regular bag.
This is the position Brock would assume anytime fireworks went off. John was so sweet, he was holding Brock through the fireworks. Brock refused to look up so John would position his own body so Brock would be able so see them even though it partially obstructed his own view.
I don't know what it is about the fourth of July but I always get so homesick. I think it's because we go to the parade and watch all of these families gather to watch it together, grandma's, grandpa's, cousins, aunts and uncles. I always leave a little sad. I was so excited this year for the fourth, we had big plans, the parade, we bought a new pool for the kids and a fire pit and of course fireworks but the night before it started raining and didn't stop until after the parade, it just put a damper on it. A family in our ward threw a party that afternoon, I really enjoyed it, we have made a lot of friends in our ward and I'm feeling more and more comfortable at ward parties. That night we went to watch fireworks at another ward members house. It was definitely the highlight of my day. The view was awesome. The fireworks shot off right over top of us, you could feel the vibration of the sound. I would watch my pant leg shake with the booms. I felt like a kid again, carefree and completely content. Once again we found ourselves surrounded by friends. It seemed so obvious to us on this particular holiday what a big role our ward has played in our lives. I wouldn't say they are replacing our family but becoming another part of our family. So here are three things I'm thankful for on this holiday, FREEDOM!!! (just imagine Mel Gibson saying that with his face painted blue riding on the back of a horse.) I'm thankful for my family at home and my ward family here.
