Jul 17 - 23

Monday, July 17 - Kenny had his throat stretched again today. I feel so bad for my siblings that they have to deal with this. Tonight, Simon and Zack went to take a tour of the BYU locker room with their soccer team. Kendra left for Girl's Camp this morning so that left Ricki and I alone. We went to Chick-Fil-A to say hi to Nick and for dinner. We all had a great night!

Tuesday, July 18 - This evening, I worked on some projects in the house while Simon worked on some outside. I got these canvas pictures of our family and had an idea to hang them down the hall. I really like how they turned out! Simon was trying to figure out how he could saw this metal piece for our fence down level with the cement. They didn't do a very good job smoothing around it and they ran over it with their Bobcat so it has a funky crease in it. Zack was out living his best life tonight with his friends Sky and Jax. They had the opportunity to be Ball Kids for a tournament game at the RSL stadium. They had so much fun! Love these cute friends!

Wednesday, July 19 - I had another photo shoot today. I am really enjoying this little side job! And Simon was able to get the center post in for our gates tonight. However, we learned something fun and new. The wheels on the gates are totally seized up. It is probably from pushing them over the grass for so many years. They didn't really need to roll, they just made a huge divot in the grass. So now we have to figure out how to get the wheels replaced and it could be interesting. They are welded to the metal frame of the gate. We are going to have to send them in to our fencing company to get it worked out. Yikes!

Thursday, July 20 - We had a super fun day! Mom picked up Halle and Brielle and met us at my house for our fun day of adventure. We decided to go to lunch but Nick had his little heart set on going to Slim Chickens so we loaded up and went there. It was yummy...and expensive! Afterward, Nick went his separate way but the rest of us went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. The kids had a blast and mom and I enjoyed walking around and hanging out with them.

Friday, July 21 - Kendra got home from Young Women's today. Hooray! I'm so glad to have her back home. She said she had a fun time but there was a little bit of drama this year. Darn it! Tonight, I took Ricki and met up with Jenni and her girls to see Eliza in Draper's production of "The Little Mermaid". It was super cute and they did a wonderful job! The theater needs a little updating and work (the a/c went down so it was horribly hot...and my chair was broken) but the production itself was really very impressive. We enjoyed it very much!

Saturday, July 22 - Mom and Simon both had buy one, get one free coupons for their birthdays this month so the four of us went to Tucano's downtown. Man, it is soooo good! When we got home, the other kids really wanted to go get Chick-Fil-A for dinner so we took them there. Simon and I both got an ice cream and we ate that while the kids ate dinner. Nick was very busy tonight but he was able to sneak away for 2 minutes to come say hi.

Sunday, July 23 - We always wish that we would go to Silver Lake early each year so this year, we did! Unfortunately, I was dealing with a bad tummy so I didn't go on the walk around the lake. In fact, the trail was under construction so everyone had to walk halfway around it and then come back. It was nice though. We celebrated Simon's birthday and even did his birthday dinner up there. He chose taco bar and there is just something about eating food like that in nature. It always tastes better! It was a great night and luckily, my tummy held out and didn't cause me problems while we were there or on our way up and back down from the mountain.

Jul 10 - 16

 

Monday, July 10 - Today is Nick's first day of FSY so I dropped him off at Colten's and these three rode up together. Day 1 of an amazing week! Kendra and Payton wanted to go to "thrifting" so I took them to Uptown Cheapskate then Ricki and I went over to a nearby park to play for an hour while they shopped. It was a fun time with just my girl!

Tuesday, July 11 - I started a huge project! I have been wanting to reorganize my office for a long time and I finally just started working on it today. I can already tell it is going to take me a while but I'm excited to get it done! It's been a year or so in the making!

Wednesday, July 12 - This was such a fun day!! Jenni and I met Jenn and Amy at the new Dollie's restaurant for lunch. It has been at least a year, if not two, since we have gotten together and the catch-up was definitely needed! Jenn and Neal have recently gotten divorced and she's had two traumatic brain injuries in the past couple of years. It was so interesting talking to her and finding out what has been going on! We stayed at the restaurant for almost 3 hours visiting! So fun to catch up with my friends!

Thursday, July 13 - The girls slept at my mom's last night (with Halle & Brielle - girl cousins sleepover) and with Nick at FSY, it was just Zack and I. We decided that $5 French Toast from Kneader's was in order. I love this little guy and I love that throughout the summer, I have been able to find time to be alone with each kiddo one-on-one. Summertime is the best time!

Friday, July 14 - Viv wanted to have the kids over for a sleepover tonight so since we had the house to ourselves, we decided to go to dinner for Simon's birthday. It's been such a long time since we went to Texas Roadhouse, it was a treat!

Saturday, July 15 - I am on an organizing rampage! :) Since I am working on my office, I have things that I need to go somewhere else. I cleared out the front room cupboards when I moved the games downstairs so I had some room there but that required organizing the books on the bookshelf so that the books I wanted showing were there. In doing that, I realized that I had a couple of duplicate books so I am getting rid of a small stack. Haha, if you give a mom a project.......

Sunday, July 16 - First of all, happy birthday to Simon! :) 43 today!!! As far as the picture, poor little Ricki was playing on the tramp at the McCullough's and fell on the bar on the side. She said it hurt really bad so I checked and sure enough, she got a bruise from it!

Jul 3 - 9

 

Monday, July 3 - Nick asked me this morning if we could go to Sam's Club for another Callaway shirt for him. Trying to be the cool mom, I was trying to surprise him with a yummy lunch at the new Dollie's in Sandy. On our way there, we ran over something on the freeway and by the time we got to Dollie's, we could hear the air escaping from the tire. Seriously?!? I just barely had to get another tire repaired! Instead of going to lunch, Nick changed the tire, put the spare on, we went to mom's to fill the spare up, and then we had to head home. At least the evening was much better though! We brought Dave & Viv and met my parents, the McCullough's, and the Olson's at the rodeo. It was super fun! I really love this tradition (even though I don't actually enjoy most of the rodeo events)! It's so fun to be together!

Tuesday, July 4 - This holiday never disappoints! We had a great time going to dinner with the McCullough's at Chili's and then heading to Sandy City for the parade. We were sitting in the full sun, which was *HOT*, but otherwise, we all loved it! Afterward, we went over to the grassy area to hang out and listen to music until the fireworks started. The firework show was a little scary this year. The wind was just lightly blowing toward the crowd so we kept getting showered with pebbles, shrapnel, and even live embers from the fireworks. I was actually really happy when it ended! :) I love the 4th of July, I love our freedom, and I love our country! 

Wednesday, July 5 - Happy birthday to the best mom in the world! We got to celebrate her at a big lunch at Cafe Rio. I hope she had the best day ever! When we got home from lunch, it was time for me to get going on Brianna Dow's wedding cake. I baked and mostly frosted/decorated all tonight. Can't wait for her wedding tomorrow!

Thursday, July 6 - Brianna's wedding day!! I am so happy for her and her cute new husband! I am also honored that I got to do her cake, share my talent, and be a big part of her special day. It was perfect!

Friday, July 7 - Marisa and I finally took Heidi Christensen up on her offer to use her pool. They are the kindest family around! Our kids had a blast in the pool and I enjoyed sitting in the shade watching them! My cute Grandma gets together every Friday with her sisters. She sent us this picture (that's right, my grandma takes selfies!) and aren't they the cutest? I love these ladies and I'm thankful to see their smiling faces. In fact, I saw Marilyn this week too so it's been a Muffett-sisters week for me! :)

Saturday, July 8 - What a fun but busy day! We had our annual yard sale at Jenni's house this morning. I wasn't really planning on participating this year because I didn't think I had that much stuff but come to find out, I made more this year than normal! Altogether, we made over $650! I, individually, made $121! Yay! This afternoon, we took Zack bike shopping for his birthday. He has been complaining about his bike and he really wanted one that changes gears so we got him one. 

Sunday, July 9 - Happy birthday Zacky boy! It's funny, we celebrated mom's birthday today on Zack's actual birthday. Next week, we're celebrating Zack and Ricki's birthdays with the Pearson's on Simon's actual birthday. Haha! Crazy month! Dad and I teamed up and gave mom a book of her journal entries from Kenny's rehab days. She has been wanting them in a book and here it is! I made her a Kit Kat cake and she and Zack blew out the candles. Happy birthday to my loved ones!

Jun 26 - Jul 2

 

Monday, June 26 - So much for "A picture a day"! There is just too much going on to only include one photo. The girls slept over at mom's house last night and Nick went golfing first thing this morning so Zack and I took advantage of our alone time together. I introduced him to Handel's (right before lunch)! Yum! We went to my parent's house to do our traditional 4th of July shirts. Mom found a super fun idea online to paint a car tire and run it over the shirts. They turned out so cool! We had a blast painting, running over, and tie-dying shirts for this year. My mom is such a fun grandma! Tonight, we walked over to a custard/Italian ice truck called Karie Anne's to have a celebration dessert night for Tammy and Jessie's birthdays. It was super fun!

Tuesday, June 27 - Jenni invited the kids and I to go to lunch at Chick-Fil-A with her and some of her friends. It was really fun going and getting to know the ladies in her ward a little bit better. The cement guys have been working non-stop to get our RV area ready for concrete tomorrow. It looks so nice already and they haven't even poured yet! So exciting!!

Wednesday, June 28 - The concrete workers were here bright and early this morning putting the final touches on the side of our house to get ready to pour. The cement truck came around 9:00 and they worked steady! In the meantime, Simon and the boys had to leave for a Young Men's camp and I had to leave shortly after for a photo shoot with Liz. It was kind of a stressful day! By the evening though, our cement looked amazing and the boys made it safely to their camp and in their canoes. :) 

Thursday, 29 - Look how much fun these boys are having on their canoe trip! I'm glad they're having fun and also glad that Simon was able to go with them and enjoy this time with them. While the boys are away, the girls will play! :) Ricki really wanted to go to an arcade so I took them to the Nickel Arcade in West Jordan. They had a blast and they were able to play with $5 for over an hour. It was a win! Tonight, I got this nice picture of the boys out for a little motorized boat ride to the bridge at Flaming Gorge. I forget how gorgeous it is there. I haven't been there in too long!

Friday, June 30 - Who gave permission for Todd and Simon to go camping together?!? Bad decision! I love this picture of my boys too. They are having such a blast! The girls and I decided that instead of going out to lunch or dinner, we would eat at home and then go get shakes. We found a cute movie on Disney+, the Princess Diaries, and we sprawled out in the theater room. I have loved this time with just my girls! We have so much fun together!

Saturday, July 1 - Since the boys get home from their trip today, us girls decided to use our last hours of freedom to go yard sale-ing. I honestly didn't think we'd buy anything but alas, we came home with a car full! The boys got up and went out on the smooth glassy water this morning. Their plan was to leave camp around noon and they got home around 4:30. They were dirty, sunburnt, and exhausted but they all three said they had a great time!

Sunday, July 2 - Ryan and Ashley invited the crew over to their house tonight for dinner. We sat out on their luxurious patio in the shade of a huge tree. It was just perfect outside for us and I soaked it all in. These are the times that I just love summer!