The Spruces

When I was little, our family used to go camping at a little campground up Big Cottonwood Canyon called "The Spruces". Heidi and Mark promised to take Max and Sam camping on Thursday night, so Danny, Izzie, and I met my parents at The Spruces that afternoon to save them a campsite. Hanging out up there brought back some good camping memories and we had a nice time relaxing and enjoying the cooler canyon weather.

Izzie's First Zoo Trip

On Wednesday, we took Isabelle to Utah's Hogle Zoo. When she caught sight of the animals, she'd get excited and kick her little legs and smile. She's still a little young to fully appreciate the experience (and she slept through some of it as you can see), but Max and Sam had a really great time! Heidi bought Izzie these cute, plush baby animals as a souvenir from her first trip to the zoo.

Izzi's First Sleepover

On Sunday, Danny left to join his family camping in Mount Pleasant, Utah. Isabelle and I stayed back at my sister Heidi's house and let Izzie get used to the new faces and surroundings in preparation for her first sleepover. On Monday, my parents and Heidi and her boys, Max & Sam, drove us to Mount Pleasant to meet Danny and his family. We hung around the campground for a little while and the kids went swimming and then Isabelle headed back to Salt Lake with my family.

That night and part of the next day, Danny and I went on some fun four-wheeler rides and spent time with his family. Izzie stayed at Heidi's that night and had a great time. They even took her on an adventure on Tuesday to the Children's Museum and The Gateway (I'll post some photos when Heidi sends them to me). Thanks Heidi for watching her - I'm quite sure camping and Izzie wouldn't have mixed well!

Welcome to Salt Lake City

On the afternoon of Saturday, July 14th, we flew into Salt Lake City for our two-week visit with family and friends. That evening we had a fun BBQ & swim party at my brother Shaun's house. It was great to get a picture with Isabelle and all but three of her cousins on my side of the family (from left to right: Sam, Alyssa, Max, Megan, Maddie, Izzie, Riley, Ben, Allie, and Olivia).

Happy July 4th!

Since we did our celebrating the day before, we had a really calm 4th of July. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for a late lunch/early dinner, but other than that, we just stayed home and relaxed. We hope everyone had a nice day!

Independence Day Celebration

This year we celebrated the 4th of July a day early. Our friends Niki, Greg & Alexa and Britany, Jeremy, Maya, & Kenyon came up for a fun-filled day in Anthem. Niki and Alexa came up earlier in the day and Izzie and Alexa had a great time playing (don't they look like they could almost be sisters?).

Later in the afternoon, everyone else arrived and Niki, Britany, and I left the kids with the dads and went shopping at the outlet mall for a little while. After shopping, we all headed over to the water park for some splish'n and splash'n.

After swimming, we went back to our house and had a barbecue. Then, Niki, Greg & Alexa headed for home and the rest of us went to the park to watch fireworks. We were worried about Izzie screaming her guts out (since she's afraid of anything loud like the vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, and blender), but to our amazement, she slept through it all! She must have been exhausted after such a fun day with friends.

Thanks Niki, Greg, Britany, and Jeremy for making the journey clear up here. We had a good time!

Pretty in polka dots

I bought this shirt for Izzie at Target the other day for like $3 on the clearance rack. It's so cute, but it kind of made me sad today when she wore it because I think it looks more like a "big girl" shirt than a baby shirt and it made me realize once again how fast she's growing up.