Lagoon!

A couple of weeks ago Neil's work had a summer party at Lagoon. It was a lot of fun, and the kids loved every minute of it!! It was fun that they had a buddy, and Daphne went on everything with Zachary, where she probably wouldn't have by herself. She sure loves her big brother!!

This picture is on the train. It's not a great picture, but the animals were definitely a hit!

They had popsicles at the luncheon, and Zachary kept going back for more

Fourth of July continued....

Neil's sister was in town for the week of the 4th, but we didn't get to spend time with her until Friday. We saved some of our fireworks and had a fun time setting them off for all the little kids. My camera was messed up that night so I didn't get any good pictures, but here are some of the better ones for the sake of documenting....

Yes, I promise I do her hair, but she pulls it right back out!

Daphne was super cute the whole night because she kept saying "Wow!!" after every firework. I tried to catch it on video, but apparently my exposure was way off. Ignore the picture and listen to the cuteness :)

More Baby Photography :)

I am loving taking pictures of newborns! Here's some pics that I did for one of my close friends:

Newborn Photography

I am trying to get into photography, so I've offered my services for free to friends and family that want their pictures taken. I especially love newborn photography (although I'm learning that it's really difficult!), and there have been lots of babies for me to practice on. :) Today I took some pictures of my neighbor's baby, and I'm really happy with how they turned out, even though he wasn't asleep! Here's some of my favorites:

Fourth of July

Can I just say that I love holidays? Neil thinks I'm crazy, but I love the traditions and the business of it all. This year we celebrated the 4th two different days, and it was so much fun! We started off with a ward pancake breakfast on Saturday, then went to my Mom's for a BBQ and fireworks that evening. Then on Monday we pulled ourselves out of bed at 5:30 AM to go see the hot air balloons in Provo. Unfortunately, a storm was coming in and it was too windy for them to take off. (Yes, this is the 2nd year that I've gone and the 2nd year that they haven't been able to fly....apparently I'm cursed!!) It was still fun to see them inflate, though.

Yes, it was very early in the morning!

We went with Matthew, Cassie, and Sophie and I took this little family picture.

Daphne got scared every time that fire was shot into the balloons. She would stiffen up and hug me really tight. Cassie took this picture of her, and I LOVE it!

One of the balloons actually did do a tethered flight, which was cool

And there was a Darth Vader balloon!

...complete with storm troopers

This was after we were all done, and Daphne didn't want to let go of the doggie backpack.

After that we headed up to Little Cottonwood Canyon where we went hiking with Cami and Martin and their girls. We tried to go swimming later in the day, but it started raining. :(

The kids had a great time!

I sat the kids down in a row to take a picture, and of course they didn't stay that way. However, they voluntarily sat like this and are actually all smiling!!!

These cousins are going to be the best of friends

Sydney's next door neighbor has a four-wheeler that he let the kids ride in. Zachary was in HEAVEN!!!

I was a little frightened while he was driving (he's a little reckless) but he thought it was awesome

Use those muscles, boys!

After another BBQ we headed home and lit off fireworks with some neighbors. The kids were exhausted by the end of the day, but it sure was fun!

Zachary watched most of the fireworks like this:

And if they were loud, he ended up like this:

Daphne didn't seem scared by them at all

"Wow, that was Awesome!!"