July 5, 2013

We took the opportunity to come together and have a bit of fun!

Winnie's mother's siblings were up for the 4th of July.  

On the 5th we met up at the Brick Oven to eat.  We had a blast spending time with all her siblings and some of the cousins!

It was such a hot day we were not surprised when we saw a car pass us with an air conditioning unit strapped to the back of it:

We laughed SO hard when we passed it!

That night we played miniature golf in Winnie's grandmother's backyard:

Here is Shay taking a shot.  Shay played golf in high school and isn't too bad:

 Here is a shot of the cousins playing together in the backyard:

We enjoyed seeing who could get the lowest score.  

 Prizes were even given out!

 Winnie's aunt, Aunt Winnie (seen on the far left in the picture below), 

loved to give pointers and play as well!

 Winnie loves her grandmother's backyard.  Even though she is getting older and can't keep it up as well as she use to have it, it is still beautiful!  Shay and Winnie scheduled their wedding reception to be held here but the weather didn't cooperate and it had to be moved into a nearby church.

 Winnie's mom (placing her ball down in the picture below) also played a round.  Behind her is Winnie's uncle, cousin, and aunt that drove all the way up from California to join us!

 This is nathan, our nephew! 

 He is a stud muffin!

 Playing golf:

 Ilene and Shay taking a whack at the ball:

 The crew even played through when it started sprinkling:

 Hallie was really excited about her shot:

 It was a blast playing around the backyard.  Uncle Talt created the whole course!

While taking pictures, Winnie decided she wanted to document the backyard.

Here is a special sitting room her grandmother created in the back corner of the property.  Her grandmother would go there almost every day, throughout the summer, to sit and relax.  The trees overhead create a beautiful peaceful canopy!  This is a fun place to hang out at:

 Another view:

 Another view:

Winnie's grandparents had the cousins create these feet in 1991.  Winnie found her's and took a photo:

Shay poising by the foot/hand prints: 

Winnie's grandma came out to join the fun:

Winnie's grandmother, Winnie, has always been a very active service oriented woman!  She is an example of hard work and love to everyone who knows her!

It has been hard on Winnie seeing her grandmother get older and not remember as much as she use to, but she is always full of life and energy and is still quick to offer a helping hand.

Below is a picture of Winnie's grandmother (whom she was named after).  She is 84 years old:

It was such a fun time hanging out with family!

Family is very important to Winnie and Shay!

4th of July

 Here we are getting ready for the parade.  Note the anticipation on our faces.  This is our serious parade faces.

We enjoyed the patriotic parade elements.  It is always great remember the founding of our country and the great men involved.



 Different vehicles passed by to represent the different public organizations around the county.

This was one of the several award-winning floats passing through the street.  It was a cool float, but it didn't really inspire me to change over to Central Bank.

 Its always great to see the BYU football truck, it reminded everyone that BYU football starts in less than 2 months.

All the guys watching the parade thought about the upcoming BYU football season.

After enjoying the parade, we went over to my sister's home in Harvest Hills to barbecue some steak and enjoy some fireworks put on by Justin and April.

The fireworks are just beginning, but Justin and April had them going one right after another.  It sounding like a war zone....

Good stuff.  Eat an awesome steak and relax in front of the fireworks.

Winnie keeps taking my picture.

 The nieces, nephews, and their friends found the glow sticks and fashioned some cool glowing jewelry.

It looks like I am fading out of the picture with the glow of the fireworks.

 Notice all the fireworks in the street, this was only the beginning.

 April and Justin, the pyromaniacs who put on and paid for the awesome fireworks.

Love the aerial firework display.  I got a crook in my neck watching the cool fireworks everywhere.

After the show.
Notice the two large boxes and the cool fireworks that were exploded.
Nice.

 Here I am with Dylan--one of the glow stick jeweled nephews.

Just hanging with the guys. From Left, Mike, Chris (brother-in-law), Justin (the pyromaniac), and myself on the end.

Oh yeah, this is celebrating Independence Day.

Hanging Out!

Got to hang out with the nieces and nephew! 

We love every chance we can get to have sleepovers and activities with these amazing kids!

Lucy Lou loves these kids as well!

Nathan was demonstrating his cutting skills while cutting strawberries....luckily he is a Boy Scout and knows how to handle a knife!

Hauling Dirt

Redoing our landscaping + our neighbor trying to get rid of a bunch of dirt = Shay, Grandparents, neighbor, and I hauling dirt from neighbor's home to our backyard.  This is about 1/3 of the dirt we will be hauling.  It is a lot harder work than I ever expected.  We have now completed 2 days worth but have about 2 more days to go.  It better save us a LOT of money! :-)  

THANKS MOM AND DAD for being willing to work like donkeys with us!  

We love you!