4th of July and much more!

For the 4th, we headed to Bend to spend it with Jim's parents. On the morning of the 4th, we went downtown for the Pet Parade and while walking along the sidewalk, Lexie tripped over her own two feet and fell on her arm. Being the fantastic mother that I am, I just told her to calm down and nothing was really wrong and she would be okay. However, she kept crying about it through the whole parade and for quite awhile afterward, so I thought we had better take her to the urgent care. Turns out, she broke her arm. She had her bone set in the surgery center 5 days after she broke it and is now in her beautiful cast decorated with lots of signatures from family and friends. She will be in the cast for 3 more weeks and then they will take it off. I was really expecting the first broken bone in the family to come from the trampoline or something more exciting than just tripping on the sidewalk! :)Here she is with her cast. She hasn't complained at all about having to wear it. Amazing!

I thought I'd get a close-up of it so you could see some of the names.

I had to take this picture of Jim throwing "flowers" when we let off fireworks in front of the house. He was throwing 2 at a time and he did it with such flair!

The day we came home from Bend, which was July 5, my mother, my sister, Natalie and her two daughters, Hannah and Madeleine, came to visit us for the week. We had a great time together. Kenedy was born on Natalie's birthday, July 7, so we were able to celebrate their birthdays together. I think about half of Kenedy's birthdays have been spent with Aunt Natalie. Pretty cool. I ended up taking pictures of the festivities with Natalie's camera, so no pics of that day. On Wednesday, the 9th, my brother Mike, his wife Debi and their kids Jarrett and Valerie came to visit for the day. They live in Chicago and we don't see them very often. It was good to visit with them for a little while. Plans are in the works for Jim and me to make a trip to Chicago in September to see them. I can't wait. They had to head back to Salt Lake on Thursday morning to catch their flight to Chicago on Friday. I'm so glad they were able to come see us for the day.

This is Cooper saying goodbye to Hannah as they were about to head out.

My mom and Natalie left on Friday, July 11 and that night, Jim's sisters Jill and Kim came to visit. They brought Jill's kids Conner, Mckay and Maddie, Kim's son Sully and Jana's son Tyler. They stayed with us for the weekend and we had a really good visit with them. We were able to slip-n-slide in the church yard on Saturday afternoon and it was a blast. Lexie even slid, cast and all. I'm pretty adventuresome, but I was really nervous about Lexie going down the waterslide with a broken arm. I was afraid she would break her other arm in the process. She survived and had a great time with her cousins. Jill, Kim and the kids left on Monday afternoon. It was really fun to see them. I wish we could all get together more often.!

Hallie and Cooper
Sully
Conner

Lexie, with a big bag on her cast.

Sully and Mckay

Maddie

Conner and Haden

Kenedy on her knees

Haden in motion
Jim and Coop

Lexie's birthday was this past Tuesday, July 22. She turned 5. I bought a coupon for a "Best Friends's party for Two" from a little kids salon and spa called Monkey Dooz. So, I took her and her friend Emma Matheson to the salon after lunch to have their party. They started off putting on princess dress-up clothes, had their hair done in a princess up do, then had their nails painted and sparkly makeup put on. They finished off with a dish of sherbet and a glass of punch. They were so cute the whole time. Lexie kept telling Emma that she looked so pretty and she kept saying, "This is the best day ever!" They had a great time and they were totally in their element--princesses being pampered. That night, we went out to Red Robin as a family and then came home to open presents and eat cake and ice cream. It was a really fun day.

Lexie and Emma getting their hair done.
Time for the nails and makeup!


Sipping a nice cool drink with a dish of ice cream.

Two beautiful Princess!