Fourth of July 2020

 Happy Independence Day!!

Although this year looks a little different two things are still the same. One is that my kids will take a sibling fourth of July picture because I'm their mom haha and two the fireworks are still going to go on. The second part does look different this year though because instead of there being a big Stadium of Fire concert that is all cancelled. They can't have large gatherings and all concerts nationwide aren't happening even on the days that aren't holidays. We weren't sure if they would even put on a firework show but they decided to do it even though there would be no audience in the stadium. Luckily for us we live right across from the stadium so we've always had the best seats in the house. Well, Danny actually would prefer not to be so close to the stadium but for this reason I do love it. In other years we've made sure to do a fun family activity during the day/early afternoon before we get stuck in our neighborhood because of the firework show but because of Covid there's not much out there to do. So we just stayed home and enjoyed our own company until it was time for the fireworks to start. My parents still came over this year and brought my grandma because we really do have the best view for fireworks so that tradition was kept alive. It's always a hit or miss if all three kids are going to be fans of the explosions and this year Addie wasn't really into them. They were far too loud and eventually she went inside the house where she watched from inside. It felt safer for her and even Hudson finally joined her. Hudson was tired and ready for bed but Grant was eating it all up. He loved all of the fireworks and sat on my lap almost the whole time. He thought they were so cool. The Fourth of July has always been one of my most favorite holidays so I really love it when I get to see the same joy on one of my kids' faces because of the excitement of it all.

A close up of Hudson because apparently at first glance it looks like Hudson is flipping off his middle finger but he's not. 😂

A throwback to one year ago 

because look at how 

ADORABLE AND LITTLE THEY ARE!!

June Outing - Hiking And A Picnic With Allen

I called up my cousin Allen to see if he had some upcoming free time and if he and his wife would be interested in getting our little families together. He was very interested and even chose the activity and location for what we would do. He decided on hiking which was great because our kids love it. When I say hiking I don't mean any rigorous steep hills. Our kids move at a slower pace and it's more like a stroll through nature. It's fun because Allen and I have kids who are all the same age. Addie and his oldest is only eleven days apart. Then Hudson and his second is a few months apart and same with both of our youngest. We both ended up with one girl and two boys but our girl is our oldest and their girl is their youngest. Everyone was born the same year and I love that we see each other a few times a year and that we have always been in each others' lives. 

Trying to get six kids to smile who are all age five and under is quite a task.

Their boys thought it would be really fun to bring little Pokemon toys to have my kids hunt for because they know how much my kids love Pokemon. I don't even know if Addie realized at first that it was them who were dropping these little toys off on the pathways. They all thought it was so cool though. Everyone had their own little nets as well and they started hunting for real creatures. Addie thought she'd be able to catch a squirrel but we quickly convinced her not to try. There was a river that ran through the canyon we were exploring and we all climbed down to play near it for a little bit before getting our picnic lunch all set up.

The coolest highlight for all the kids was when we found the rattlesnake. I'm not sure who saw it first. It might have been Allen but it was really neat to see one so close and yet still safely distanced enough. Addie and Hudson are really liking snakes these days so for them to see one out in nature made their entire day.

Eventually we had our fill and while heading back to the car Danny caught both a butterfly and a dragonfly. He caught both of them within a five minute timeframe and the others were impressed with how quick he was. We didn't realize until we had already left that the canyon we were in was a national monument and that you aren't supposed to take even a stick from there and here we had left with two live creatures. I guess we now know that for next time. Overall it was a great morning.

Pest Control :)

 If you need any help with pest control I know three who can help.

🦋🐛🐜🦎🐞🐌🦗🐝🐢

I attempted a mini photo shoot with the kids the other day to surprise Danny with it as a gift for Father's Day but apparently he saw what I was doing from the window of his now home office. I thought I was being sneaky but now that he's working from home in this pandemic I need to be sneakier.

Father's Day 2020

Happy Father's Day Danny!

A little picture gift for our favorite explorer dad.

Danny's Father's Day Videos

And a bonus video of music and makeup brought to you by the Fergy Boys with help from their makeup artist Addie. :) 

This was done today while visiting Danny's parents in Mapleton.

Preschool grad upstart

Addie is a preschool graduate times two! She was enrolled in two different preschools and I'm just glad she loved both. She graduated from Waterford Upstart today which is a free online preschool program. I originally enrolled her in it in hopes that we would have a back up plan in case I didn't feel like the BYU program would be a good fit for her and needed something to fall back on; however she loved and thrived in both and that makes my mama heart happy. Her Upstart instructor even gave me a call and informed me that Addie was at a first grade reading level which was amazing to hear firsthand the progress and achievements that this program was adding to her preschool experience. Because of all the Covid 19 restrictions in place Addie wasn't able to have a typical preschool graduation. Instead she was sent a shirt, paper cap and diploma in the mail and was instructed to watch a little graduation video online. She didn't mind and didn't know any different. I think she was honestly a little happy to now just play the rest of summer.

Also she only paused briefly for this picture above to be taken and you wouldn't know it but she has a beetle in her closed hand. She immediately went back to bug hunting after I said we were done with pictures and then caught two butterflies. I love this smart little girl even if she's currently obsessed with little critters that I could definitely do without.