4th of July

 Independence day was spent much like most of our others, working during the day and then Brigham City at night. 

Our friends Heather and Dallin brought their kids over the night before and we had dinner and some people swam. Mason wasn't there but everyone else got along really well and it was so fun to see them.

We have a house in Jefferson Ave in Ogden that is almost ready to list, so I spent the morning there cleaning and patching a tub so that we can get it on the market after the holidays. Tim and Mason were working on our Madison Ave rental so that we can get an appraisal done next week and get it financed.

We all got home in the early afternoon and Emily brought her kids over to swim. Then Mason left with his friends and Brielle left with hers and we went to Brigham City for BBQ and fireworks. It was a beautiful day outside and the fireworks they got this year were really cool. It was wierd not having Mason and Brielle there with us for the first time - Bus was not happy about it and told us that when he's a parent he'll never let his kids miss a holiday with the family. But everyone seemed happy with their night so I'll call it a success.

21st Anniversary

 For our anniversary this year we decided to go down to Provo for the Parade of Homes again. Last year we took a break from this tradition to go to New York City, but we were ready to tour mansions again.

We left the kids home alone this time, for the first time. Naturally that had to get a little complicated, so someone said they wanted to come see our Tahoe that's for sale and we had to cooridate with Scott to show it, and then the guy never showed. But other than that it was smooth and the kids were just fine!

Some of the houses were incredible. One of the Crumble Cookie guys had his house showing and it was insane. Bigger than I would ever be able to justify, but the setting was so beautiful. We came home with our heads full of ideas. Or at least I did.

Also, it was so nice to spend a couple days just hanging out with Tim. He's my favorite person to be with. I'm so blessed that my marriage has always been something I cherish.

St. George with the Englishs

 The kids are out of school for the summer, and the first order of business was the English family summer trip. Kelson's wife Lexi just had a new baby girl, Josephine, about two weeks ago. We decided to do St. George this year so that people could visit them or they could come see us and it would be closer. 

We got there Monday evening and just unpacked and got some dinner. On Tuesday, we spent the morning at the lagoon pool by the house, and then Kelson brought Luke, Jane, and Alice to visit. We swam in the tiny backyard pool and played around and then he went with Emily and Miles and their families to the Lagoon. Most of the Arbons didn't feel like doing that again because it was so hot and the pool was almost too cold and the water really hurt Mason's skin, which is sensitive right now from Accutane. 

While we were there we also rode around in the rented golf cart, played pickleball, went out to eat (Bonrue Bakery and Angelina's Mexican were the best), visited Sue, hit up Fiesta Fun for go-carts, and spent an evening at Crush Golf. We also spent a lot of time being entertained by little Ricky who is hilarious right now.

I think everyone had a great time, even though it is sometimes hard to tell with teenagers. I love being around my family.

Cheer in Orlando

 Brielle and I spend the last week in Disney World for the Summit Cheer Competitions. They got a wild card bid really early in the season. They made it through the wild card round to the finals, but ended up in 13th place there, which was kind of a shock. We were expecting at least top 5 after their performance. Her team had done really well this year and she has had so much fun. North Star has been a whole different experience as a gym. Her team went undefeated locally and they all got along, which makes all the difference.

We got in to Orlando late Wednesday night and got dinner at the resort. We stayed at the Coronado this year. Thursday went to Walmart for some supplies and food, and then she had a practice in the afternoon. The she and Riley went swimming and chatted with Riley's mom, Jen. Friday she competed in the mid morning and then we had the reveal in the afternoon. Then we went and walked around Disney Springs and had dinner. 

On Saturday we finally made it to the parks and visited Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. We only went on a couple of rides at each and by 2:00 in the afternoon we absolutely wiped from the heat and humidity. So we went and got some lunch and just hung out.

Sunday she competed early in the morning, then had a lunch break and then awards. That night we went to the celebration party at Epcot and got to ride the Guardians of the Galaxy. It was almost worth the 2 hour line. 

On Monday we slept in a little and then packed up the car and went to Magic Kingdom. We did a couple rides there and then once again got too hot and left to have lunch and head to the airport. I was nervous all day because I hadn't reserved seats and the flight was full, and when we checked in we weren't assigned seats. But then we ended up getting upgraded seats next to each other for the flight home.

All in all, it was a really fun trip. Too long to be away from the rest of my family and we were both pretty homesick by Sunday. But it was fun to get to hang out one-on-one with Brielle and I'm glad we got to do it.

Bus' Spring Soccer

 Soccer season is in the fall and spring, but since Bus has football in the fall, he only joins his team in the spring. He has had the same coach, Alan Miller, for a few years now and its been a really good experience. He always has a lot of fun with his team at practice. They've also always had winning seasons, which makes it a lot more fun.

Bus is very good. He is super quick and fearless. He played mostly defense this year, which he doesn't love. But no one else on his team is quit as good at facing off with the offense and protecting the goal. So there he stays. The few times he was able to play forward or midfield, he scored. It is so fun watching him play.